Hidden Pasts
by deathbycookie15
Summary: What's left to accomplish after defeating evil androids in two timelines?Trunks Briefs has enrolled in college.He expects an easier life,but instead he finds a mysterious girl who he swears he's met before...but how?What does she have to do with his past?
1. The First Day

Hidden Pasts  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own ANYTHING with Dbz. (Sniff . . .Trunks . . .) Oh, and I fixed all of my chapters so they're easier to read. (hopefully) Summary: This story doesn't exactly follow the format that was in the show.  
  
Eh . . .yeah, ok it's about future Trunks and stuff, and he goes to collage! And the best part is he's forced to take ballet for extra class. He meets a new girl in this class, and the funny thing is, he remembers her from somewhere. He can't stop thinking about some of the bizarre things that happen with her, and they have lots in common. But exactly how much? What is she hiding from him that could turn his world upside down? Read to find out. I love ballet; hey, I take ballet classes, so nothing against people who do it. Well, I thought it would be funny imagining him in tights. . .or extremely seductive. . .or maybe really gross. Ok, done rambling, let's get on with it. Hope you like it!  
  
There had been many years of pain and suffering . . .death had become so regular it was considered normal among the citizens of the towns that were attacked by the evil duo of androids known as android 17 and 18. These horrible creatures were created for the sole purpose to destroy all of mankind. Does that sound like a cliché, or what? Yes, this sounds all too familiar to a band of warriors called the Z team. They all tried their luck on defeating the monsters, but all who went up against them perished. Without Goku, who died before everything started, they lost much of their strength. Even Vegeta, Prince of the Saiyans, who was said to be one of the most powerful beings in the universe, was shot down. No one could defeat them.  
  
Gohan, son of Goku, has been dead for 11 years, being the second to last person to fight. Chi-Chi went before him. The androids killed them both, and are greatly missed by their loved ones, especially by a young man named Trunks Briefs, the one who defeated the androids. You might be wondering why I'm telling you all of this, right? Well the story I wish to tell you takes place in the future timeline, where the 19 year-old, purple-haired sayain had enrolled collage, now an Orange Star University student. Not only that, he's in a certain program that makes his life so much tougher. This makes it so he's able to graduate in about a year, but has many classes a day, and they're four times harder. Yes, the demi-saiyan had even enrolled in ballet, to his dismay. His lessons were a secret well guarded until now. His mother forced him to take it up to that point, so he wouldn't be spending all of his time with training. Don't get him wrong, he enjoyed it, it's just it's not always the best way to come out looking tough. He needed an extra class; so the head office looked at his résumé, saw he took ballet, and bam! Now he was stuck. In spite of his bad mood, he told himself that this wasn't going to get him down, perhaps it would be fun.  
  
For the first time in his life, Trunks felt somewhat happy. This was a time of peace, he could finally move on . . .and away from the pain of his past. But despite of this notion, he felt a little voice in the back of his mind. Something that keeps making him hold on to the past, as if it wasn't done with him . . . but any who, who cares! Trunks Briefs was a strappin' collage student now. He had a chance to live a normal life for once, and not have to worry about fighting, or saving the world . . . absolutely nothing could go wrong this year, nothing that would affect _him_.  
  
Oh, how very wrong he was.  
  
Chapter 1:  
The First Day  
  
Trunks rushed with his bag, trying hastily to fix the strap to go over his shoulder. He threw his ballet shoes in it and looked at the clock.  
  
"I'm gonna be late!" he gasped frantically as he ran out of his dorm. It was his first day to ballet, second at Orange Star University. He muttered as he jumped up the steps and down the hall full of classroom. His words soundings a lot like "I really wish I didn't have to go."  
  
"Room 236, 237, um..." he said as he ran past the doors, "ah, room 238, and with a minute to spare."  
  
He threw on his shoes and sat down on the clothes box. He sighed rather half-heartedly. He didn't really want to be there, he was just kinda forced to. He needed an extra class to make up for his last credits. But he smiled anyways. He had made some friends already and was doing just fine for his first week there.  
  
Just as he finished, a woman about 30 years old ran into the room. She was of petite size and had long brown hair tied back in a bun. Her eyes were warm and gray, but it looked like they could turn cold the instant something went wrong.  
  
"Sorry, I was held in up in traffic." She exclaimed with a little laugh, and gazed around, counting the amount of people, "Is everyone here? Hm . . . just about, so I guess I'll start. I'm Madame Minkaso, I have been teaching here for about seven years. Is there any questions about my experiences?" she asked. Everyone shook their heads, so she continued, "Well, I'll be your ballet instructor for your time here at Orange Star. I hope you take your time here seriously, and that I don't have to explain certain rules to everyone. I'm positive that everyone has a certain amount of maturity, so I can trust that you all can contain yourselves for a next period's time. If you don't act appropriately, I can assure you that you won't be having much fun here. Any questions now? Good. Ok, grab the bars and pull 'em out." So everyone did what they were told and soon the room was filled with the sound of scraping and the positioning of the balance bars.  
  
"Well, I know most of you from last year, so I'll have you go with your old partners. That is, unless any of you have any requests? No? Then I guess I'll go on to the new people after you guys warm up. Ok, lemme hit the music." And with that, Madame Minkaso ran over and turned on the c.d. player.  
  
"Ok, ready," she said as she place a hand delicately on the balance bar, "Plies down, and up, down and up, pour de bra back, and up. And on your toes, and hold it then come down. Now pour de bra forward, back up again, and repeat."  
  
She did the moves over and over with the students for a minute or so before stopping to make corrections. Five minutes later, they stopped all together.  
  
"Now, like I do every year, I pair up people with dance partners. Ok, now Julie, I'd like to pair you up with Jake, Manda with Jano..." and she continued down the line, putting people together for a few minutes before reaching Trunks, the only person left. "We were suppose to get another student today, but I guess she's not here yet. Trunks, right? Well, can you manage one day without a --"  
  
But she interrupted by a sudden knock on the door.  
  
"Oh, that must be her. Hold on, class." And with a swish, she was out the door, only to reappear in a matter of seconds.  
  
"Ok, everyone, this is Serina, (no, not sailor moon, I just love that name. And see, it's not spelled the same!) and she's in the same program as Trunks, so she had some trouble getting here." and in popped a girl who was absolutely nothing like the other girls. She was of medium height, and had her brownish-blond hair tied in a bun, a few stray hairs grazing her face. She wasn't horribly skinny, her figure was a little shapelier. But her best feature was her eyes, which were a soft blue, and very friendly, kind of familiar to Trunk, actually. She was rather pretty, but not overwhelmingly so. She had a sort of natural beauty about her that you don't see every day. She smiled shyly at the class.  
  
"Hi." was all she said as she examined everyone. Trunks looked at her, and he suddenly felt that he'd met her somewhere before. She moved her head as she looked around. The feeling still swarming in his mind, he stared more intently at her, but try as he might, he couldn't recall anything.  
  
"Serina, dear, we've already warmed up and partnered up. You're with Trunks." Madame said, pointing him out. Trunks felt himself go red as the girl's intense gaze rested on him.  
  
"Whoa..." she said to herself quietly, making her way over to him, " the dude's kinda hot." She blushed at her own remark, normally she wouldn't say that about people she was about to meet, "well, living with only an old man can make you lonely...and he seems nice enough." she pondered a little as she reached him.  
  
"Hi, I'm Trunks." He exclaimed, extending a hand while trying to sound older than 13, but with no success. His voice cracked slightly, anyways. 'STUPID!' he thought helplessly.  
  
"I kinda gathered that," she took his hand in hers and gave a firm shake. She gave a laugh, her voice ringing in Trunks' head, though not it a bad way, "So, you like it here?" she asked, her beautiful eyes looking at his face.  
  
"It's ok, I mean, the classes are hard, but that's to be expected. What's your major?"  
"Oh, veterinary, but if that doesn't work, I'm also going for music education. I like working with animals and teaching kids how to play instruments. What's yours?"  
  
"Medicine. I like to cut open things." He responded casually as she made a face of mock disgust.  
  
"Chh, that's great. Whatever makes you happy."  
  
Trunks smiled. Serina was the friendliest person he met so far. You didn't meet too many of those where he came from. The world had only just come out of a dark period. It had left people bitter and mistrusting. But she wasn't. He found it was very easy to talk to her, and ditto with Serina. She must not have seen as much as he did.  
  
But then again, he wasn't all that bitter either.  
  
"Well, is this class hard?" she asked, sinking into some stretches.  
  
"I donno." he responded.  
  
"I should've guessed that. No one has shown off their stuff yet?"  
  
"Nuh-uh, not yet." He said, as he stared around at other classmates.  
  
"Oh, that reminds me," said Madame, cutting into the conversation, " I almost forgot, I'd like to do a simple test to see how well you work with the music. It'll help me determine what we will be doing for the production at the end of the year, so everyone, in a line!"  
  
All their jaws were on the floor. A test? Now? They all muttered their feelings under their breaths. But one by one they went, and did surprisingly well, and finally it was Trunks' turn.  
  
He got in the middle of the room and did a pose. He felt ridicules. The music started and he was off. It was a slow tune, and Trunks worked with it the best he could. He did a few challenging jumps and gently moved across the floor.  
  
He finished with a turn and posed yet again. He did extremely well. People were looking at him in a funny way. He was really good. And not just good good, really good. Professional good. After seeing how well her partner did, it was Serina's chance.  
  
"How am I gonna pull this one off? I'm gonna look like a fool...ERG!!!" she exclaimed in a rush as her eye twitched. Some stared at her interestedly. She might be good looking, but she was a little strange.  
  
She walked to the middle, and this time the music was a little faster. Serina slowly turned and walked threw some triplets, and went a little faster. She did some shanae turns and jumped high, but landed softly. She danced her way threw as if she had practiced it many times before.  
  
She did one last pose. Everyone was in awe. How could these freshmen be so good? Class was over, and Madame called four students over, Serina and Trunks included. Both recognized the other two as Jake and Julie.  
  
"You guys did well today. I know how hard it is trying to finish collage, and this program you're in doesn't make things easier. Missing work happens, and we've had problems with that. It affects your classes and ballet, too. I just don't want to see that happening. Thanks, that is all." They all murmured their goodbyes as Jake and Julie sped out of the room. They were pretty late.  
  
"Oh, damn, one minute until class starts!" Trunks yelled, "I guess I'll see you later." and with a final wave he took off.  
  
"Bye. Oh man, I'm gonna be late." She exclaimed. She looked around her. Not a soul was about. No one.  
  
"Oh GREAT! Oh, yes, I can't believe my luck! Whoo!!!" and she was off like a bullet, not exaggerating in the slightest, to her next class. She had a smile played along her face, a familiar smile. Wait, I've seen that smile before. Who is this mysterious woman? To find out, tune in next time for Dragon Ball Z!  
  
So whadaya guys think? How 'bout some reviews? Please? This is my first fic on this site, and I'm dieing to get some criticism. I'll except all types of reviews, but if you hate it, put me down gently, alright? 


	2. Strange but Familiar

So what did you guys think of the story so far? Criticism would be nice. Let me tell you, this chapter is a little longer and, in my opinion, an improvement from the last chapter. I hope you enjoy it and give me reviews.  
Chapter 2  
  
Strange but Familiar  
  
The days following after meeting the new, mysterious girl, Trunks felt the oddest sense of déjà vu. The further he thought about it, the more he became confused. So he did the easy thing; he forgot about it. He pushed it to the back of his mind, thinking it was no big deal. It's been almost two months, and the pair had already become close friends. But there was one thing for sure, and that was Serina was defiantly not normal, no doubt about it. Will Trunks figure out what's troubling him?  
  
"Psst! Trunks, you're going right?"  
  
"Huh?" asked Trunks, looking up from the paper he was writing. He glanced over to Mike, a rough looking character who played on the varsity football team at Orange Star University.  
  
"Are you going?" asked Mike again, "We need more people--"  
  
"Going to what?" Trunks asked, looking fully at him now. He didn't like this Mike guy at all. He was stupid, arrogant, conceded . . . the list went on and on. Mike let out a sigh.  
  
"The party, you idiot! There's gonna be booze and stuff. Plus, that foreign exchange student will be there, you know, the hot one?"  
  
Trunks didn't really feel like going to a party full of drunken idiots. Nor did he want to see Mike flirt with some poor girl who probably wouldn't have a clue what he was saying. It definitely didn't seem like a fun-packed night, so he said the only thing that came into his head.  
  
"I don't drink." He stated flatly.  
  
It was true, too. He couldn't stand the taste of alcohol at his friends wedding, so he was pretty sure he wouldn't like it now. (Plus he got a little drunk and decided to put on a starburst orange brides maid dress that just so happened to be laid out because the girl who was wearing it couldn't come. He vowed to never drink again. . . and kill whoever snuck in the dozens of pictures and pasted it all over Capsule Corp. Try explaining that one to Bulma.) Mike placed his most arrogant look on his face that he could muster. Trunks hated that look. They were in their last class, the professor was busy grading papers, and he didn't have to stand that guy for much longer. Only the rest of the period to go . . .  
  
"You don't drink," he gaffed stupidly, "oh, please don't tell me that you have some kind of moral complex , or something."  
  
"So what if I do?" exclaimed Trunks, his eyes narrowing, "I donno about your family, but I was raised to have morals."  
  
"What kind of bull is that? Did you're _father_ teach you that?" said Mike. For a moment, there was nothing but silence. There was some pain express on Trunks' face, but it went as soon as it came.  
  
"He's dead . . . so would you mind your own business?" snapped Trunks in an un-nerving tone that came barely above a whisper, but having the affect of silencing Mike for a moment. Soon, however, a wave of glee spread along his mean face, ending the awkward quietness.  
  
"Your father's _dead_?" he exclaimed with extreme enjoyment, "Aww, does Trunksie have a soft side? Does he miss his daddy ." He laughed annoyingly. Serina's head shot up, and her gaze fixated on Mike.  
  
"Hey you idiot, shut up! Why don't you leave him alone before I kick your ass?" Serina said angrily. Her face was in a set look, her cheeks red from the rage she felt.  
  
"Serina, don't mess with this guy, he'll cause nothing but trouble." Trunks said feverishly, "You don't have to defend me." Mike eyed Serina with a smirk. He looked her up and down, licking his lips as Trunks' face screwed up with a look of disgust. How dare he look at her like that!  
  
"No, Trunks, old buddy, I think the girl wants a fight, though I'd much rather go on a date..." said Mike, placing his hand on her "way" upper leg as his friends cheered. Serina just slapped him upside his head, causing Mike to launch into his desk, sending pencils to scatter everywhere.  
  
"Go find someone else to molest, you ass, because I won't take it!" she whispered as loud as a whisper could go, and pushing the hand that was just on her leg away from her as if it were diseased.  
  
"Serina, don't get involved," Trunks advised, "Look, it's ok, really." His voice was rather pleading now.  
  
"What, Trunks? Afraid of losing her just like your loser dad?" Mike laughed yet again.  
  
"That's IT! I've had enough, "Serina yelled, "You want a fight? I'll be more than happy to give you one. You and me, outside of campus!"  
  
Mike simply raised his eyebrow in surprise.  
  
"Serina, please, you don't have to," Trunks pleaded once more, "it takes a lot more than that to get me down." He gave a re-assuring smile, though it did not stop the anger that still burned inside of her.  
  
"No, it's not just this. I need to show him his place," she turned to Mike, who was still giggling like an idiot, "You in?"  
  
"Yeah, why not?" he responded. The professor looked up angrily, throwing down his pen.  
  
"QUIET UP THERE!!!" he screamed, sending spit in all directions. He gave a look around as the student's stared at him wide-eyed, some wiping off the flecks of saliva from their faces, "Erm, well, get back to work." And he started to grade again. The three took one last threatening look at each other and quietly finished their papers.  
  
As soon as the professor dismissed them, Serina, Trunks, and Mike ran out of the class.  
  
"See you outside, m'dear!" said Mike as he made to the door leading outside. He zoomed off with his friends, laughing and making jokes about Trunks.  
  
Serina walked to her locker with Trunks not far behind her, drinking a soda. She opened it and threw all her books in, leaving a huge dent. Trunks raised a brow with surprise. She really _was_ angry.  
  
"Urg, I hate that guy!" she screamed, thrusting her arms up, causing Trunks to duck out of the way, "God I wanna punch his head in! I'd feel better if I could hit something!"  
  
"Serina calm down!" he tried to reason. She looked around for something to strike, and then she saw a good place to vent her anger. Crunch was the sound heard as her fist made contact with her already abuse locker. Trunks' eyes widened and his jaw went slack. Serina turned around to see Trunks' shocked face, his can of soda was forgotten as it dripped onto the floor.  
  
"See, I told you I'd feel better." She exclaimed in a slightly calmer tone as she pulled her hand out of the fist shaped hole she created. Trunks shook off his stupor and chose to leave the locker out of the conversation for now.  
  
"Serina, you know you don't have to do this." Trunks said calmly. He didn't want to try her patience at the moment. Though he knew he was far stronger than she was, he didn't want to end up like the locker all the same. When she got angry, it was . . .how do you put it? Ah, yes: terrifying. ' If Chi-Chi were alive, I would've said she had a rival.'  
  
"I know I don't have to, but I want to. . . How'd your dad die, if you don't mind me asking?" Trunks looked down, feeling a little embarrassed that the attention was focused on him now.  
  
"No, I don't mind," he said softly, "Well, I was just a baby, and all I know is that he was murdered by the androids." As soon as those words left his mouth, Serina's expression changed to a surprised but sad look.  
  
"Well, if it's any consolation, my family was picked off by them, too," she began, "My Mom went shopping one day when I was five, and she left me with my brother. That day, the store was attacked... and then I had to live with my brother. You see, my father died when I was born, of a disease type thing. So all I had left was my brother...we lived alone for two years before those _things_ massacred him before my very eyes. If only I had stayed behind . . ."  
  
She looked up at Trunks quickly to see what he thought, seeing a look of concern on his face. She sighed lightly.  
  
"That's why I was so mad, I know what it's like to lose someone." She finished, and he nodded solemnly. He then thought this sounded strangely familiar to him, but he put it to the back of his mind yet again, "I wonder who defeated them, anyways. I never found out. Do you know?"  
  
Trunks blushed. He couldn't tell her. He didn't want her to think of him as some kind of freak. A part of him thought that she might understand, that he could tell her anything and she wouldn't judge him for it. He even thought for a moment that she would be able to relate, but now was not a good time to tell her.  
  
"N-no, why would _I_ know if you don't?" A moment passed before they spoke again. The subject turned back to the fight.  
  
"Well, it doesn't change the fact that I could've stopped you guys from fighting. If anything happens to you... this guy is pretty tough." Trunks finished.  
  
"Chh, this guy is nothing. I'm not half bad, either!" she exclaimed, trying to defend herself.  
  
Trunks raised a brow again. Mike was nothing? To him, Mike wasn't, but her? He looked Serina over, and he realized that she was rather muscular for a ballet dancer, but compared to Mike...it seemed like she hadn't the chance in heck. But then again. . .  
  
Trunks looked back at the locker and smiled. He severely underestimated her sometimes. He would expect her to be one thing, but then she'd proved him wrong. Knowing Serina, she could do most anything if she wanted to. Mike didn't know what he got himself into.  
  
"Trust me, I'll be fine." She assured him, "and you can be my second guy if he gets that far, but you can bet he won't. You look pretty strong to me, and if you can lift me up then you have to be." she said as they walked toward the door, "I guess you can say I'm kinda heavy." Trunks shook his head, rolling his eyes.  
  
"You're not heavy, "Trunks exclaimed as they stepped over the threshold, "just not flimsy and breakable, that's all." He wasn't going to add in that her chest was bigger than any ballerina he knew. They weren't huge, but it brought it to their attention when Madame Minkaso suggested a breast reduction clinic. Serina turned it down without hesitation.  
  
"Plus, I think you fine the way you are." Trunks said as Serina blushed. In fact, he thought Serina was pretty.  
  
Actually, as they made their way across the football field, Trunks found himself putting more thought into that subject than he had wanted to. He couldn't help but think that she wasn't just pretty; he thought she was beautiful. She was strong willed, but gentle. Her long hair was swaying in a ponytail as she marched toward the end of campus. She had this personality that was so colorful that it draws you to her. This pull made you like her. And her eyes were the most brilliant shade of deep blue that always seemed to smile in a friendly manner. But right now, they were in a cold stare that looked like it could burn a hole right through you. (Ouch . . . ) Trunks had never seen her look like that before, and he had a feeling that she reserved it for times like this. . .when things got really serious.  
  
They crossed the street to a group of people that were surrounding Mike. He stared at them expectantly.  
  
"I didn't know you were going to have your fan club here with you." Serina sneered.  
"Whatever." he said, "I see you've brought that idiot with you." He jerked his head toward Trunks, "I thought that he wouldn't want to witness you being ground into the pavement."  
  
Serina gave an "as if a jackass like you could" look and rolled her eyes.  
  
"Shut up," she said angrily, "Let's just get this over with." She threw he bag to the ground. Serina looked around at all the punks surrounding Mike and shook her head  
  
"I'm ready when you are." She said as Mike stepped away from the group. She looked at him as if this wasn't going to take long. The way she lolled her head to the side made it seem that she was actually quite bored.  
  
"Ok, let's get started." he said standing there with an arrogant smile plastered to his face.  
  
Serina scowled and sank into a battle stance, and glanced over at Trunks with an exasperated look. Mike clenched his fists and also took a battle stance, trying to make it look like he was experienced, which he was, thank you very much. He suddenly dashed toward her, running as fast as he possible could. Serina just stood there, watching him as he came closer and closer. When he did finally get there, he attempted to aim a punch at her side, but Serina, surprisingly, blocked it with ease. He tried again, but she quickly grabbed it and squeezed it to his side. He yelped and she let go. He tried to kick her head, but she grabbed it with one hand, and punched him with the other, which didn't look anything special to her, in the stomach. All the while, there was a slight glint of excitement in her eyes.  
  
His air escaped him as he sank to the ground. His "fan club" were all yelling at him to get up as he tried to regain his strength. He grabbed his stomach in pain, even looking like he was going to faint. But finally, he was able to stand on his feet, his arrogant smirk replaced by shear hatred.  
  
Mike let out a yell and ran yet again, his anger blinding him. Serina sighed and shook her head as he came along, aiming a punch for her nose, but she got to him first. She hit him hard enough to send him launching into a tree a couple of feet away from them, and little cracks developed on the trunk by the force of the impact. Mike, though half conscious, looked bewildered. Serina, however, wasn't surprised in the least. The punch she gave him looked nothing more than a tap to Trunks, who was rubbing his eyes, trying to grasp this. 'Did she just _do_ that?' he thought to himself, trying to believe it.  
  
Serina watched Mike for a moment to make sure he wasn't dead, then turned to see Trunks' surprised face 15 feet away. The silence between them held out for several minutes. She laughed nervously.  
  
"Hee, hee, it's pretty windy today, isn't it?" she asked weakly, "Well, let's go, I've had enough for one day--"  
  
"Serina, watch out!" Trunks screamed. It seemed that neither of them noticed that Mike had been standing quite steadily for a minute or so, or the fact that he was right behind Serina, pulling out a long, six-inch blade.  
  
It was as if both Serina and Trunks were watching the whole thing in slow motion. Serina swirled around only to see Mike embedding his knife into her side, the blade breaking with a "crack". She kicked him hard, sending him to another tree. This time it did shatter under the tremendous force as he screamed with pain.  
  
"Let's go!" Serina yelled as she grabbed Trunks' hand and sped off. Mike was unconscious.  
  
They didn't stop running until they were three blocks away from the fight. They ducked in the forest by the University.  
  
"Do you think they followed?" asked Serina with a hint of pain. She leaned against a tree to hold herself up as she clutched at her side.  
  
"No, I don't think so," he responded. He looked down and saw the knife mangled in her blood-soaked t-shirt, "God, Serina, the knife!"  
  
The handle hand broken off and it left the blade. The knife looked as if it was cracking down the middle. It hadn't gone in more than three to four inches. How did the blade shatter like that?  
  
Serina looked down, and then slowly looked back up.  
  
"Trunks, you might want to look away." She said, but Trunks looked at her stubbornly, as if he was supervising. She sighed, and then grasped the blade firmly. She clenched her teeth as she pulled the knife out. She let out a small scream of pain. Blood came pouring out, and the knife glistened with it maliciously.  
  
"Ahh, damn it, maybe I shouldn't have done that . . ." Serina panted out, dropping the knife with a soft "thud" as she sank to the ground.  
  
"We need to stop the bleeding, or at least slow it down." Trunks said in an unusually calm voice, though he desperately looked around to find something to apply to her wound.  
  
As if she read his mind, she asked, "How about we use my sweatshirt?" She pointing to the thing tied around her waist.  
  
"That'll work." He said as she took it off.  
  
"Ok," he said after a minute, "I have to look at the wound, to see how bad it is. Could you lift your shirt up a little?"  
  
She looked as if she was about to protest, but she did as she was told. Trunks raised his brow at the sight. He was slightly horrified. It looked rather painful and irritated. Blood pumped profusely as he looked at it closer. The knife barely grazed her rib.  
  
"Oh, Serina...it's not looking good. We need to get you to a hospital," he said softly, lifting his gaze to her eyes, "_now_."  
  
"And then what would we do?" she asked, "What would we say to explain this? Mike would just lie, and we'd get kicked out of school for fighting. Mike's on the football team, he'll tell the police anything to get out of it. No, I've worked too hard to get here."  
  
"But it looks so painful . . . " he argued softly.  
  
"I've had worst, trust me," she retaliated, "I don't need a hospital, or anything. Give me a day or two, and I'll be fine."  
  
"Do you not see how serious this is?" he yelled, his voice becoming desperate.  
  
"I'm _fine_, Trunks. All it would do is cause problems. With your help, I can get better, ok? Whoa.. . . " she tipped over slightly.  
  
"Serina!" Trunks cried. She stood up to steady herself, and also prove to Trunks that she was ok.  
  
"I'm fine, just a little dizzy. Take me back to my dorm, I have a first aid kit somewhere, bad stuff always seems to find me . . ." her eyes began to glaze over.  
  
"Serina . . .?" he asked as he walked to her.  
  
"Trunks . . . when did you grow another head?" she asked as she swayed on the spot, a sedated-looking smile swept her face, "hee, hee, it looks good, kinda like a potato . . . heeee, potato . . . " and she collapsed on Trunks.  
  
"Serina, oh God . . . " he yelled. She was unconscious. He grabbed the forgotten sweatshirt and applied it to her wound gently. Three minutes later, it was soaked in blood. He looked around apprehensively. He didn't want to be seen...  
  
"It's time to go. I just hope she doesn't wake up." He said to no one as he swept her up swiftly and leapt into the air.  
  
He passed over campus quickly and landed on the roof of the University. He ran to his dorm unseen and placed he on the bed, dripping blood as he went.  
  
He gasped as he looked at Serina. Her face was cold and dead looking, her usually red lips pale. If it weren't for the fact that she was still breathing, (rather shallowly, I might add) he would have thought her gone.  
  
He looked around as he said in a shrill, "Where's that damn sensu bean?" He threw boxes and containers everywhere, searching frantically. He finally found one in a box under his drawer. His face fell as he looked at it. It looked kind of moldy.  
  
"I don't know if it'll work, it's really old and it looks like I spilt something on it . . . but I've got to try."  
  
He crushed it in his palm and put it in her mouth. He coaxed it down by rubbing her throat. When he was done, he sat patiently, waiting for any sign of life, but it didn't come.  
  
"Please, Serina, oh please . . . " he looked at her desperately, his eyes etched with concern, "I was too late. Damn it!" he punched his knee, shutting his eyes furiously, trying to fight off the pain. His face drained of all its color as he thought, ' Not her,. . . please . . . there have been so many deaths in my life . . . don't take her from me too . . .'  
  
All of a sudden, Serina shifted. She began to cough furiously, holding her side. (Scared you there, didn't I?)  
  
"Ahh, ow, ow!" she yelped, "God, that hurt!" she exclaimed as she tried to get up  
  
"God, Serina, you scared me!" he said with relief and hugged her tightly, placing a thankful kiss on her forehead, "Don't you ever try something that stupid again!"  
  
"Ow, watch it, Trunks, that still hurts!" she cried out, almost suffocating from the pressure.  
  
"Wait a second...let me see something." He said.  
  
Trunks lifted her shirt up to see that the wound was still there, but it stopped bleeding. It looked much better; it was even healed a little.  
  
"Good news, Serina," he said, "The wound has stopped bleeding, so I can sew it up now. I'll be right back." He tried to hide his amusement as he looked at her scared face.  
  
"S-sew it up?" she whimpered with a squeak.  
  
"Nothin' to it." He said with a smirk, "I've done it a million times. Though a lot of them were dead at the time..." she looked at him with worry. He loved to mess with her, "Don't worry, I just gotta go to the medical room and grab some supplies. I'll be back in a minute."  
  
Soon after he left, Trunks was back again, his arms full of medical supplies. He walked over to his bed, placing them down.  
  
"I'll put on this anti-bacterial solution on your tummy, and I'll stitch you up. But first, an anti-bacterial agent to help." he said calmly, and stuck a syringe in a bottle of liquid.  
  
"This won't hurt," he told her as he stuck the needle in her stomach, and slowly entered the anti-biotic into her body, "Now, some of that solution." and he rubbed liquid stuff with a cotton ball around her wound, "And finally, the stitches."  
  
"Nothin' to it." Said Serina, smiling weakly. Trunks had his hand over her stomach, preparing to start.  
  
"Now, this might sting a little, but it's nothing compared to what happened to you today." He said, his soft smile comforting Serina, who was still a little shaken, "You don't have to look." She snorted sarcastically.  
  
"Believe me, I've seen worse." she assured him. He just nodded.  
  
"Ok then." And he stuck the needle in and out of her skin, slowly mending the injury. The sharp pain made Serina sigh.  
  
"Trunks," Serina said after a moment of silence.  
  
"Yeah," he said as he pulled on the needle.  
  
"Remind me to never trust Mike again, that bastard." she muttered angrily. This made Trunks laugh through his nose.  
  
"He, he, sure, as long as you remind me to never piss you off. You were really scary back there, like you were a whole different person."  
  
"I was just getting into it . . . " she said sarcastically, "Was I any good?"  
  
"Well, you can defiantly hold your own. It didn't look like much of a fight from where I was standing." She gave a questioning look, "You kicked his ass in a matter of a minute, and it looked like you were barely touching him, there was hardly any pressure in your hits at all."  
  
"And how would you know all of this?" she asked slowly.  
  
"Ah..."  
  
What would he tell her? That he could fight? That he really was half alien? Or maybe that it was **he** who defeated the androids?  
  
Nah . . .  
  
"Well," he said as he came to that conclusion, "I guess I have a certain knack for seeing specific things, I guess. What about you? How do you know how to fight?" He caught her there. She couldn't say anything.  
  
"S-self defense class. That's all I really know." She let out at last. He gave her a curious look, but decided not to bug her about it any more.  
  
"All done." He exclaimed cheerily. Serina looked up in astonishment. He was really good.  
  
"Really? That was quick," and she tried to get up, but couldn't, " Ow, ah damn!" she said in frustration, "I hate being useless." Trunks only smiled.  
  
"You, I'm afraid, won't be able to get up until tomorrow. I gave you something that'll speed up the healing process." She didn't really have to know what it was, just that it's helping. The sensu bean might not heal her as quickly as he had hoped, but it would help her move around easier. He then eyed her shirt and realized something.  
  
"You're not going to like this..." he started, "but I need you to take off your shirt so I can wrap gauze around your ribs." She flushed.  
  
"No." she stated flatly.  
  
"Serina, you need bandages to help keep pressure on you're injury, it's still unstable..." he said softly.  
  
"Urg, do I have to?" she asked pleadingly.  
  
"You have to change before you go out anyways," he argued, "I'll just give you a shirt of mine." He gave a smirk, and Serina glared.  
  
He had a point.  
  
"Sigh, alright...but I better get a sucker for this." She said lightly.  
  
"Sure." He said with a smile. She lifted the blood-soaked shirt over her head, and threw it to the side. Trunks blushed as he tried not to stare and put the stuff on her at the same time. She still needed her personal space after all. He wrapped gauze around her ribs and over a shoulder to make sure it wouldn't fall off. He thanked god that he didn't have that stupid nose-bleeding problem.  
  
"Ok, I'm done, and here's a clean shirt." He said, handing it to her while looking away. She put it on and he faced her again.  
  
"I think I need to help you get to your dorm." He laughed as Serina tried to get up, but failed miserably.  
  
"Shut up..." she muttered  
  
"Oh, so you wanna stay here?" he asked, and he gave a mock look of seduction, "You know that I wouldn't mind at all, who knows what kind of fun we could have..." She rolled her eyes.  
  
"Take me to my dorm, you dork." She said firmly as she blushed more.  
  
"Aww, do you always have to ruin everything?" He gave a fake frown and picked her up of his bed. He carried her to her dorm and laid her down on the couch.  
  
"Hey Trunks?" she asked slowly.  
  
"Hmm?" he said back as he placed a blanket over her.  
  
"Thanks for everything...and I'm really sorry you had to deal with this." She said quietly.  
  
"Don't apologize. I just don't like seeing you hurt. Promise me you'll get some rest."  
  
She gave a stubborn look, but agreed anyways. He gave her a kiss on the forehead.  
  
"See you tomorrow." He said softly.  
  
"Yeah, goodnight." She replied. He gave her one last smile before leaving. Trunks walked out the door, and leaned on the other side. .  
  
"She's ok," he said to himself, "She's alright." He sank down to the floor for a moment, placing a hand on his forehead to calm himself down. He suddenly heard a yell from inside that sounded a lot like "hey!" He ran back in the room to find her sitting up. She looked at him with a wide smile.  
  
"Where's my sucker?"  
  
So what about this chapter? I have hope for this story, and I truly think it's worth reading. I'll keep updating. I hope I got the spacing right this time. I hate Microsoft word. Ciao! 


	3. Trunks' Revenge

Trunks' Revenge  
  
The next day, Mike was glad to see Serina wasn't in class. He even gave a sigh of relief as Trunks passed by, glaring at him with extreme hatred.  
  
" Where's the wench? Visiting the morgue?" Mike asked proudly. He sounded absolutely thrilled by the idea. He laughed stupidly, ignoring the fact that Trunks' back went suddenly rigid, the anger seeming to surround him. He turned abruptly and walked back to the still laughing Mike. Trunks' scowl distorted his usually handsome face as he stared him down.  
  
" You think you're out of the woods already?" Trunks said in a low, dangerous growl. He didn't need to raise his usually calm voice, because just the sound of it could shake someone to the brink of crying, " Don't think you're home free yet, dumb ass, because you have me to worry about now," and to emphasize his point, Trunks grabbed Mike's collar, " And if you ever pull a dirty stunt like that, I'll kill you."  
  
Mike looked scared, but it didn't stop him from saying what he had to say.  
  
" You don't have your girlfriend here to defend you," Mike forced out, trying to sound threatening, though his voice was unusually high pitched, Trunks' grip was rather tight, "I'd watch my temper if I were you."  
  
" What are you gonna do?" asked Trunks with a bitter laugh, " You can't do a thing. You have nothing on me."  
  
Mike seemed to have gotten his nerve back. He had a knowing face that only infuriated Trunks more.  
  
" What would you do if your girlfriend died?" he asked out of the blue. Trunks' scowl deepened.  
  
" What the hell are you talking about?" he growled even lower.  
  
" What would you do," Mike asked again, " What if she died and left you all alone? Would you cry?"  
  
" What do you mean, Mike? This isn't the best time to mess with me." he shook him so hard that it made Mike flinch. But he smirked all the same. He was psyching Trunks out. That was his goal: to put Trunks threw as much pain as possible.  
  
" What if I told you that you were wasting time talking to me?" he said roughly.  
  
" Mike, you're really pushing it." Trunks warned, though his voice was becoming scared. Mike took the advantage.  
  
" Well, I know that Serina's in her dorm right now. A friend saw you leave last night. So I decided to pay her back." His smirk spread into a ghastly smile, " I thought a couple of my friend would like a go at her, you know. I only meant fighting, but who knows what could be happening right now."  
  
Trunks let go of Mike's shirt as the reality of the situation sank in. He backed away, tearing his gaze away from Mike's. He turned around and broke into a run, sending the books he was holding flying everywhere. He didn't look back as Mike laughed cruelly. ' Ohh, he's gonna pay later.' he thought as he made his way towards Serina's dorm.  
  
Trunks appeared no more than a slight blur to the untrained eye as he turned the corner of the hall that lead to Serina's dorm. He tried not to think of the things that Mike's little posse could be doing to Serina at that moment. With that, the anger boiled in him even more.  
  
When he got to her room, Trunks found the door already broken into. There he found Serina, clasping at her side and was standing rather shakily. She was trying to fight them off by herself!  
  
Trunks quickly looked at her injuries. Her face was slightly bruised and her lip was bleeding. In her weakened condition, she was no match for the eight guys there. A bloody pipe was being held by one of Mike's henchman, and Trunks started after him. No one even noticed Trunks was there. A sneak attack would be best.  
  
But a cry of pain tore his attention from grabbing and beating the pipe guy up. Another guy was trying to force himself on Serina. But the cries of pain weren't coming from her; they were coming from her attacker. She punched him off rather easily and got back up.  
  
" Hmm, maybe we should do this in a group effort?" a guy suggested, licking his lips with anticipation. Others nodded in agreement. Serina scowled  
  
" Come near me, and I'll rip off your 'thing.'" She said angrily, nodding below the belt, and many covered themselves. After seeing her in action, they believed she was perfectly able to do so. But the one who spoke smirked.  
  
" I don't think so, you--"  
  
But the guy never finished. The group heard a deep growl and then turned around to see one angry dude. Trunks' scowl returned as he clenched his fists. Immediately, guys around the room shrank back. There was something extremely unnerving about the way he stared around at each and every one of them, as if seeing what way would be best to kill them all.  
  
" Trunks!" Serina panted out, " G-get away! Are you crazy?"  
  
But it was too late. They were after Trunks now, though rather cautiously. He just simply pummeled through them, knocking guys left and right. He then threw them out into the hall with no effort at all. Being half saiyan, it was easy to take the whole group down. He watched them all fly out of sight before turning to check on Serina.  
  
" Are you ok?" he asked her gently, a huge contrast to what he sounded like a moment ago. He stared at her worriedly.  
  
" Yeah, I'm just feeling a bit tiered." She said as she toppled onto a wall. He rushed to help her out. He placed a supporting hand under her forearm.  
  
" Here." he said as he gave her a tissue. She applied it to her lip thankfully. An awkward silence overcame them for a moment or so.  
  
" You're sure you're alright?" he asked again, brushing the stray hairs away from her face.  
  
" Trunks, I'm fine. Thanks to you, they didn't succeed in what they set out to do." she shuddered for a moment. Trunks' eyes flared at the mere thought of her being abused in any way.  
  
" I think I'll go find that little prat. I'll kill him." he said in a low growl. Serina gave him a look.  
  
" Mike?" she verified, and Trunks nodded his head, " Trunks, you're not thinking clearly. Go to class and think about what you're going to do. If you fight him, I'll kill you. Promise me you won't go near him?"  
  
" Serina, I want to give Mike what he has coming to him, that's all," he said innocently, " Even if I rip out his voice box in the process."  
  
" Trunks." she said warily, " Promise me!" She gazed deeply into his eyes. Hers were shiny, almost pleadingly. He sighed.  
  
" All right.I won't do anything I'll regret later." he said at last. It seemed good enough for Serina. She pressed her face into Trunks' chest and breathed deeply. She wasn't feeling real good at that moment.  
  
" Serina?" Trunks asked. He held her a little more firmly as he looked down at her. She looked up, her face a little paler than usual, but as pretty as always despite the bruises. She smiled at him weakly.  
  
"I'm just a bit nauseous, that's all." She said softly, "You worry about me too much. It's not good for you, ya know." He smiled down at her and held her close. He buried his face in her hair and smelled it lightly. The scent was rather intoxicating.  
  
" Can you blame me?" he asked, barely above a whisper, " You scare me sometimes.I'm only starting to feel happy again, and if you left.I don't know what I'd do." He felt her arms tighten as her face pressed into his neck.  
  
" I know how you feel.sometimes I think you're the only person who could ever make me happy." He gazed down at the top of her head. He thought deeply on what she said. He enjoyed taking away her pain, making her happy again.  
  
" Well then, I guess I love being the one to make you smile." He said simply, " I want you to sleep. Now." He placed her on the couch as she gave a sigh.  
  
" All right, but remember what you promised." She said.  
  
" Yeah, yeah. I'll talk to you later." And with that, he left.  
  
Serina said not to kill Mike, but that didn't mean that Trunks had to stand by and let him get away with it.  
  
Trunks waited through all of his classes with as much patience as he possibly could. In the class he had with Mike, it took him all his will power not to strangle him then and there. He couldn't concentrate, even during ballet. Only thoughts of how he was going to make Mike pay plagued his mind. He jumped as soon as the professor excused them to let them out.  
  
As soon as he was out in the halls, Trunks searched the halls for Mike. He found him bragging to his friends about how he hurt Serina. ' He won't be bragging for long.' Trunks thought angrily.  
  
Trunks followed Mike out the doors of OSU. (Orange Star University, I'm tiered of typing it out.) He was heading off campus. 'What is he doing?' Trunks thought as he followed him to the same patch of woods that he fought Serina at. Obviously, Mike was there for something. Who would go to the woods for no apparent reason?  
  
Trunks question was soon answered. A shadowy figure came closer to Mike, a hood covering his face. Trunks quickly dove behind a tree, preparing to listen.  
  
" You got it?" Mike asked, holding out his hand expectantly.  
  
" Yeah," responded a deep, raspy voice, " Do you have the money?"  
  
" Of course!" Mike snapped, " Are you sure that this will help me get stronger? I want to kill that wench and make her pay for what she did to my reputation."  
  
" This girl, Serina, you said her name was?" he asked, and Mike nodded, " Well, she sounds rather tough, but I assure you the steroid will help you." Mike smirked.  
  
" Ha, I'd like to see old Trunksie boy try to ruin my plans this time. I still don't understand how he could take down eight of the strongest guys I know, and not get hurt at all. Maybe I can take care of him too." Trunks had heard enough. He let out a small chuckle as he stepped away from the tree.  
  
" I'd really like to see you try." he said as Mike swirled around.  
  
" What!" he said, seeing the pissed off guy before him, " Trunks." he growled. The shadowy figure staggered back, attempting to make a run for it. He didn't want to try this guy, from what Mike told him, it wouldn't be a good fight to get into.  
  
But before he left, Trunks called out, " I suggest you don't make deals openly in public anymore. If it weren't for the fact that I wasn't after this punk.well, I'll leave it to your imagination." he smirked, " And if I see you around here again, I shudder to think what might happen to you. Maybe prison?" The guy didn't need to be told twice. He jetted in the other dirction toward his janky car. Trunks turned toward Mike, and began to close in.  
" Now, now, what do I see?" Trunks said, " A freaking coward who can't do anything for himself. Buying drugs from shady characters. tsk, tsk. I'm disappointed." Mike looked at him stupidly.  
  
" There's plenty I can do. For example, kick your ass." said Mike angrily.  
  
" Well, if you think you could, how about try it?" asked Trunks through gritted teeth. He wasn't in the mood for Mike's bull.  
  
" Funny, you always struck me as a pacifist." Mike said, " I don't know how you beat all my men, but I assure you that I won't be so easy to defeat." And with that, he pounced on Trunks.  
  
Trunks rolled his eyes and quickly put him in a chokehold. This wasn't worth his time. If it weren't for the fact that he had the extreme desire to pound his face in, he wouldn't even be there.  
  
" Funny, I thought you were going to kick my ass?" he said as Mike trembled, " I guess not." He let Mike go, wanting to enjoy himself a bit in scaring him.  
  
" You'll pay for that one." Mike exclaimed, though it looked as if he doubted himself.  
  
" I am? Whoa." he scoffed, " Didn't I say that if you hurt Serina again, you'd get it? And here you are, plotting another attack. What's your problem? Are you ashamed that someone beat you? I bet that doesn't happen much, and your damn ego's gotten too big. " What are you going to do when she's fully recovered? That's why you attacked her this morning, huh? Thought that you should do away with her while she's weak and forget it ever happened? You sicken me."  
  
" Shut UP!" Mike yelled, and launched forward again, " I don't care how many times it takes me, I'll get her one way or another!" Trunks lunged for his neck and lifted him up off the ground with one hand.  
  
" I'll kill you before you get the chance!" growled Trunks. His grip was tightening, and Mike became terrified, his usual cocky attitude thrown into the wind. This was defiantly a side of Trunks he never saw before  
  
" Whoa, there Trunks. I-it's ok, lets talk about this." he said shrilly as his feet dangled off the ground.  
  
" No, I'd rather ground your face into the pavement!" Trunks yelled. He could barley contain himself. He trembled with rage he rarely felt.  
  
" B-but." he whimpered.  
  
" ENOUGH!!!" bellowed Trunks, " Not so tough with out your friends, are ya?"  
  
" L-let me down," stuttered Mike, " Please, I won't do it again. I DON'T WANNA DIE!" he whined. Mike was on the brink of tears, clawing at Trunks' strong grasp.  
  
Trunks froze. The last statement Mike made him think. Was he going to actually going to kill him? He let go of Mike, allowing him to fall, he was being horrible. Trunks was ashamed of himself. How could he lose it like that? He turned to walk away, angry with himself that he could stoop so low.  
  
" He, he, sucker." Mike muttered as he withdrew a new knife that was concealed in his boot. Trunks, who sensed him coming, let out an exhausted sigh and punched him.  
  
Mike sailed fifty feet away from Trunks. He was glad there was no tree there to break his fall that time.  
  
" And if you ever mess with Serina again, I'll kill you." said Trunks coldly, " I won't hesitate to rip you apart." And he left the bewildered Mike on the ground.  
  
The next day, Serina felt much better. When Trunks removed the bandage, he discovered that not only did the stitches disappear; there was no trace of the wound anywhere. Trunks was amazed that it healed so quickly. He put it off as the sensu bean working later, since it was rather moldy.  
  
Trunks would've pushed off the whole thing, if it weren't for the fact that Serina seemed a bit weird about it. She seemed almost nervous. She would awkwardly change the subject when he'd bring it up. It was very peculiar.  
  
** Serina was well enough to go to her classes. She was ecstatic to be back in ballet. Trunks, however, did not share her enthusiasm.  
  
" Why do you hate ballet?" she asked as they made their way to the practice room. " I don't hate it.," said Trunks defensively, " I just.I donno. I love to dance.but I feel like I'm not going anywhere with it. No one cares." She looked at him with her intense gaze.  
  
" I do. I know that you lost your passion for it, but I'll try to restore that for you. You're so talented, and I'm lucky to have you as a partner. But I feel that there's something else."  
  
" What do you mean?" he asked confusedly.  
  
" I think there's something else preventing you from embracing it fully. What is it?" Trunks blushed a bit.  
  
" I have no idea what you mean." he said softly.  
  
" Come on, you can tell me. Please?" she pleaded with him for a few moments.  
  
" Alright.er.I don't like wearing the tights." He said barely above a whisper. She looked at him with question.  
  
" What was that?" she asked. He blushed more.  
  
" I. don't like wearing the tights.alright?" Serina let out a laugh; but then quickly noted he was serious.  
  
" Oh," she said awkwardly, " You weren't joking."  
  
" I can't help it," he yelled, " I was always a bit vain about it."  
  
" But you don't ware them during practice.or any time for that matter."  
  
" So?" he said, letting out a sigh, " I realize that, but still, I've had bad memories in tights.and the way the bunch when you ware a dress.don't ask, it's a looong story." He finished, seeing the questioning look on Serina's face.  
  
" All right, I can respect that. I'll leave it alone" she said at last.  
  
To tell the truth, she really didn't want to know. (I mean, would you?)  
  
Serina and Trunks just arrived when Madame Minkaso rushed in along side them. She was so distracted that she knocked into poor Jake, who just got done talking to Julie about how much he lo-oved Jell-O squares. (He was devastated when he found out they weren't really alive. Poor Jake, he hasn't been the same ever since that fateful day.)  
  
" Sorry, dear! I'm just so happy." She began, " I have important news everyone! I will be holding try-out for the new cast of the end-of-the-year program. It's required as a grade, so no one can get out of it."  
  
Everyone "oohed" and "ahhed."  
  
" You and your partner will come up with your own choreography, that means no copying off of things that have already been done. You are also required to fit it with music of your own choice. If it doesn't run accordingly, well, it's your final for this quarter. I suggest you don't screw up. I remember someone trying to do a scene from Romeo and Juliet. I'm not that thick."  
  
Serina gasped at the challenge. She quickly stole a glance at Trunks, who was desperately trying to swallow a lump in his throat. She was giving a final that has nothing to do with books. That means they would have to do exceedingly well if they wanted to get the roles. 'This isn't going to be easy course after all.' Thought Trunks.  
  
" Well, there's no use just standing around. Come on, let's get to warming up." Madame said as she put on the music, " Ok, plies down and up, down and up. Oh, Julie, watch your butt!" and the class dragged along as Trunks and Serina freaked out, along with everyone else.  
  
After their classes, Trunks met Serina at her locker. (Do college students even have lockers? Well, if they don't, I don't care.)  
  
" What are we gonna do?" Trunks asked frantically.  
  
" Oh, I thought you didn't care about ballet?" Serina asked sarcastically. Trunks just glared, " I already figured it out. We rent a room here and practice every other day, and on the off days we can discuss it."  
  
" You sure that'll work?" he asked, griping his bag strap nervously.  
  
" Sure it will. I'll ask Madame if we can. It should work perfectly, trust me." She looked at him, as if pleading him for his agreement.  
  
" Erg.fine." He placed his hands behind his head.  
  
" Yay!" she exclaimed as she closed her locker, " Then I'll see you tomorrow for practice, right?"  
  
" Sure, that is, if it works out." he said sarcastically.  
  
" Grr, I'll strangle you, I swear."  
  
" No you wouldn't," he said with a smirk, " I'm too cute."  
  
" You wanna make a bet?" she asked, and slugged him in his stomach jokingly. It even hurt a little. Trunks didn't know what hurt more, his ego, or his tummy.  
  
The next day, Trunks watched Serina open his dorm door and trudged her feet as she made her way in. Her sour mood was evident as she flopped down next to him.  
  
" Not good news, I take it?" he asked as she took her head in her hands in frustration.  
  
" Madame said no, there's no way that we can practice in there." She sighed grumpily, " Now what?" Trunks thought hard for a moment. He ran a steady hand through his hair, trying to come up with a solution. Then it dawned on him.  
  
" Hey," he said in an attempt to cheer her up, " I know a place we can go." Her ears perked as her eyes lit up.  
  
" Really? Where?"  
  
" It's a few blocks away from here," he explained, smiling slightly, " It's an abandoned school of arts building. It's called the Omega Hall. No one ever goes in there."  
  
" What? When did it close? I use to go there as a kid."  
  
" No kidding? So did I. I guess we had different classes or something." Trunks found a link between them. Maybe she was just a face in the crowd. Or was she? He put it off once more. What could she possibly have anything to do with him prior to right now?  
  
" Well, alright then." she said, beaming at him warmly, " We could meet tonight at about seven-ish, and I'll swing by your dorm. We can take my car. Is this all ok with you?" He smiled genuinely at her.  
  
" That's perfect." He said lightly, but his face changed to a more panicked expression, " Serina, when's that Calvosky paper due?" he asked slowly.  
  
" Today, why?" she asked suspiciously.  
  
" Um, I have about a paragraph done." He said as he grabbed a handful of his perfectly groomed hair, attempting to rip it out in frustration.  
  
" You got your work cut out for you, then." She said with a smile played upon her face. She left the hyperventilating Trunks there to pity himself.  
  
" Aghh, I'm gonna die!" and he sank in his chair.  
  
* So, what do you think of this chapter. Any better? I need reviews, people. 'Till next time. 


	4. Practice, Practice, and More Practice

Hey, I've been trying to fix a bunch of things about the posting thing. This fic hasn't been showing up on the website, though I figured out that you can find it by looking under my name or under "find". But maybe this time it'll show up on the posting page thing, you know what I'm talking about hopefully. Anyways, by the next chapter, everything ties together, and it'll be a pretty dramatic twist to the plot. Well, you came to read, so read on.  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Practice, Practice, and More Practice  
  
Later that day, Trunks and Serina were already on their way to the forgotten Omega School of Arts. The walked on the untrimmed lawn and gazed upon the wizened looking building.  
  
" Not quite how I remember it," Serina said as she surveyed it more closely as they searched for a way to get in, " but still pretty much the same." She smiled slightly.  
  
" Hmm, how to get in . . .?" Trunks thought aloud. They began to walk around the school, looking through some broken in windows. (Not a very safe place, is it?) Serina then spotted an old escape ladder, and pointed, though it looked bit high up, about a several feet out of reach for her.  
  
" I'll get it." said Trunks, as if he could read her mind. He jumped up and grabbed the lowest bar with ease. He landed down gracefully and leaned against it with an arrogant smirk plastered across his handsome features.  
  
" No sweat." He exclaimed as he lifted a brow with a glint of mirth in his blue eyes.  
  
" Whoa, there. You sure showed me up . . .Bravo." Serina mused with applause, though not giving up. She was determined to embarrass him, " I guess those tight buns are good for somethin', eh Trunks?"  
  
And embarrassed him, she did. He let out a small choking noise as he turned bright red.  
  
" You think my butt's . . .nice?" he looked at her shyly and blushed more.  
  
" I donno, turn around and let me see again." She ordered. He raised an inquisitive brow at her sudden boldness. But it didn't take him long to gain his cool nature back.  
  
" If I show you mine, you have to show me yours." He said as he shook his head. She gave him a strange look.  
  
" I don't think so." She stated firmly. He just chuckled lightly.  
  
" Fine, you saw mine already, so I'll just sneak a peek." And he attempted to go for it, but he found that it wouldn't be that easy. A fist came out of nowhere and landed with a sickening crunch on top of his head. He grabbed at it with annoyance.  
  
" Thank you defense class." She mocked. He scowled at her and rubbed the spot on his head that hurt.  
  
" Oh yeah?" he questioned, " You're in for it now!" and he jetted after her.  
  
Serina let out a scream and began to run up the ladder, but Trunks was right behind her. She went through an already opened window as quickly as possible, and Trunks came in after her. She let out another yelp and ran down the hall.  
  
" What are you doing?!?" she yelled over he shoulder.  
  
" Chasing you, what does it look like?" he yelled back and closed in on her. She screamed again as he tackled her down, and began a tickling assault on her stomach, absolutely showing no mercy. Tears streamed down her face as she laughed hysterically.  
  
" Trunks-he he . . . stop-ha-please-can't breathe!" she said between her laughing.  
  
" Only if you give up." He said in an uncaring tone, as if he could stay there all day and continue to torture her.  
  
" N-never!" she choked out. He just shook his head and heaved a sigh.  
  
" Hmm, well, you had your chance." And he began to tickle harder. She was laughing even harder now. If he didn't stop soon, she was going to faint.  
Finally, Serina had enough.  
  
" Alright, I give-ha, ha,--up. You win!" she cried out. He immediately stopped.  
  
" I told you that I'd get you back." he taunted. She stuck out her tongue as he helped her up.  
  
" Yeah, yeah. Well, let's get going. We have loads to do." She said.  
  
They made their way down the hall, reminiscing of memories they had at the school, and pointing at things while they passed.  
  
" God, it's just how I remembered it." said Serina in a gasp.  
  
" It's a little creepy . . .no one's been in here for 10 years. Who knows who lives here now." He responded, giving the place a look over, as if someone was waiting to mug them as soon as they turn the corner, but smiled at the scared look on Serina's face.  
  
" Yeah, I see what you mean . . ." she also looked around, but shook her head at the nonsense, " They really let it the place go, didn't they. The dust is a mile high. Lets go to the old practice room, hopefully it's not as bad." And they set off to find their old room.  
  
When they did eventually find the room, they put on their ballet gear and warmed up their muscles.  
  
Serina finished a little before Trunks and began to walk around the old room, getting familiar with it once more. She placed a finger on the balance bar, and closed her eyes. She skimmed a layer of dust as she stopped her pace. She allowed herself to think of past memories as she hummed a forgotten tune. A familiar but fading voice filtered through her head.  
  
" Serina, how was your class today?" her older brother would ask after every practice every time he picked her up. He swooped her up in his great, strong arms and kissed her on the cheek.  
  
" Great! My teacher says my turns are getting better." she would respond, " I wish mama was here to see me. I miss her." A brief flicker of pain would show on his handsome face, one that would be even more so if it didn't have so much pain hidden beneath it. He was much to young to bare the loss of all his loved ones. All he had left was the small child he held. But he'd put a smile on anyways.  
  
" Me too, Serina, she would be so proud. You remind me of her a lot, you know? She loved you so much . . ."  
  
Serina was woken up from her flash back by Trunks shaking her a little too hard.  
  
" Serina?" he asked, worry written on his face.  
  
" Oh, I'm sorry," she said softly, not meeting his gaze fully, " I was thinking about something."  
  
" Are you ok?" he asked, " You look upset. What were you thinking about?"  
  
She looked thoughtful for a moment, refusing to look at Trunks strait all the while.  
  
" Nothing . . .being here just reminds me of a lot, you know?"  
  
" Of your family?" he asked slowly. She finally looked up to meet gaze.  
  
" How do you always seem to know what I'm thinking?" she asked with a sad smile on her face.  
  
" I've been there. Would you like to tell me about it?" he said quietly. She sighed. Trunks understood her like no one else. She could tell him most anything, and he'd always have something to say to help her pain.  
  
" My brother had to do so much . . . he would pick me up from here after each lesson." She began softly, Trunks' gaze becoming more intense, " I started lessons a year before my mother was killed. She was so proud of me . . . and he was, too. I miss him a lot. But . . ." she let a tear escape, " His voice becomes more distant every day. At first, after his death, I would stay up and cry. I felt like just giving up, I wanted to be with him, because what point was there to go on? He was the only one left who loved me, so what use was I? But I would think of him, and it helped. His voice was as strong as ever. I'd even pretend he was there, singing me to sleep. His voice was calming, and it would sooth me when I was upset. But his voice is fading with each passing day. It's as if I can't hold onto it. When I finally get a bit of it in my head, it won't make me go to sleep." her eyes went hard, "It doesn't help anymore.  
  
" I . . . I feel so ashamed for forgetting him. I want to keep him with me, but I can't help but feel like he's slipping away all over again, that I'm watching him die. " She finished quietly, stifling back a painful sob. She turned away from Trunks. She hadn't let anyone ever see her cry about anything, especially her brother. She expected him to feel uncomfortable. But what she felt next came to quite a surprise.  
  
Trunks' arms squeezed her tightly from behind, his breath felt soothing against her ear.  
  
" I know it's not easy. All my life, I spent hours trying to imagine what my father's voice sounded like. A friend of mine . . .he would tell me that it's not good to only remember the pain that a loved one gives to you when they die, it's what they've taught you and what they leave behind."  
  
" A very wise man must've told you that." Serina mused as she desperately wiped the tears off her face. 'How embarrassing.' She thought, ' I can't believe I cried in front of him. Oh, I feel so stupid.'  
  
" He was . . ." Trunks replied, thinking back to Gohan, his old friend and mentor.  
  
Serina turned around to face him. He gazed at her with pure support. She laughed slightly.  
  
" I hate it when I cry." She told him, " Then my nose gets all stuffy and I look horrible."  
  
" Oh, whatever. You look wonderful." He replied, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. A few minutes passed before Serina broke the silence.  
  
" How about we get some work done?" she asked, suddenly remembering that they did indeed have a purpose for being there.  
  
" All right . . . what do we do first?" he asked with a tilt of his head. She rolled her eyes.  
  
" We develop a plot, dummy." She replied with a smirk.  
  
" And why do we do that?" he asked in confusion.  
  
" Because it helps us create the dance more efficiently. What are we gonna do, flap around to see what looks good?"  
  
" Oh." Was all Trunks said in response.  
  
" All right . . ." she said as she began to pace the room, " We have to make this a really good, mushy love story . . .thing. Madame falls apart watching Disney movies, so I think it's best if we make it really dramatic."  
  
" Oh, damn, I was looking forward to a blood spilling kinda thing." he said with a sarcastic frown. Serina just glared.  
  
" Oh, god you're a dork. Ok, I'll start something, and you'll pick it up when I'm done, so we both have a say in this."  
  
" Can't you just do it?" he asked with a whine, but she gave him a look, " Ok, guess not."  
  
Serina began to think. She needed something dramatic, something painful, but what? She looked inside herself and found what she needed. Serina knew what it was to be alone. That was her whole life, really. Sure, she had friends, but who could really understand the pain she knew? Her body shook of sad memories as she heard herself speak.  
  
" The girl in the story, other wise known as me," she placed a hand on herself to emphasize her point, "is completely alone. She has no one to fall back on when she needs a friend. She has felt this way for most of her life. Everyone in her life always seems to disappear. She doubts herself and tries to find a way out, but it's hopeless . . ." she trailed off, indicating that Trunks should pick it up.  
  
" I guess I'll take a stab at it," Trunks said, sensing that was a hint from her, " Uh . . . I too have been alone, waiting for an explanation about why I always seem to lose what I have. Everything I know and hold dear to me fades away . . ."  
  
" And then we meet each other, fall desperately in love, and blah, blah, blah, it's done." she finished with a wave of her hands. Trunks snorted at the lack of sentiment.  
  
" I always thought you a romantic, Serina." he mused.  
  
" I am," she replied, " I believe in love, and all that great stuff. . . but I have yet to experience it from that stage. I just don't feel like getting too much into it. I might fall in love with your character."  
  
" And that would be a bad thing?" he asked playfully.  
  
" I'd rather not, especially if you play him." and with that, she stuck out her tongue  
  
" Ouch. That reminds me, how was I with the whole story thing?" he asked.  
  
" Like a true Shakespearian." She replied sarcastically. He gave a sad sigh.  
  
" I figured as much. Well, let's get started then, shall we?" he asked as he took his portable c.d. player out of his bag. It was small and compact with big sound, and it only ran on batteries. (I guess it's a plus when you have a genius mother who invents things for a living, huh?)  
  
He surfed his c.d. until he found a song with a good rhythm and great music qualities. He turned around to see what Serina thought of it. He raised an eyebrow in question. She nodded her approval.  
  
" Nice," she exclaimed with a smile, " I see it's emo." (Emo ROCKS! It's a type of music, people sorta like Jimmy Eat World, though not so much any more. I like the Clarity album the best.)  
  
" Yeah, well, I knew you'd like it." He responded as he started the song over, " Let's get started, shall we?"  
  
Serina started off dancing alone, doing a couple of difficult moves, turning elegantly on her toes. She bumps into Trunks and it kicks off from there.  
  
They supposedly fall in love. (or maybe they really do, hmm . . .) He picked her up slowly, and threw her up a few inches. She twirled once before landing back in his arms, face to face. She turned away slightly, but he placed tender fingers under her chin and brought her face back. (Gettin' the hang of this acting thing, aren't they?) Realizing the rather odd predicament they found themselves in, Serina and Trunks jumped away from each other, extreme embarrassment written all over their faces.  
  
" Er, that was . . . good . . ." said Trunks, who lacked anything better to say. He blushed violently as she agreed.  
  
" It's a little sketchy, but we'll rub all the rough edges Wednesday." She replied, also blushing.  
  
They both stared at each other in disbelief for a moment. It felt strange to have done so well at the first go. Never had either of them had done that well with another partner. Trunks thought for a moment. Maybe it was because Serina was not like any of the women he knew. She understood him when others could not, even when he couldn't find the strength to speak. And even though she didn't know the whole story, he told Serina almost everything about how his life was without his father and . . . Gohan. Though he never told her their names, he knew she would understand, and he returned the favor by listening and relating with her.  
  
Serina had so much hidden pain that she wouldn't even dare to tell Trunks because he knew she couldn't bare to put much her emotional stress on another person. She was always trying to help others, most likely because she was trying to run away from the darkness that lived in her. ' It's only a matter of time,' thought Trunks, ' One cannot hold in so much pain for long, it builds up, and soon enough, it'll rip out willing or not. And I'll be there for her . . .'  
  
Well, the tryouts were in two weeks, and that left plenty of time to dwell on how the routine went. The duo knew that everyone would be working as hard as they would, so they put in all their spare time to review and practice.  
  
**************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** ******  
  
Over the next week, Trunks and Serina improved on their routine. Trunks kept pointing out things that wouldn't mesh well with other moves, and Serina worked new moves into it, making the whole dance even more beautiful.  
  
Back at OSU, even then the two were discussing how well they thought they'd do.  
  
" This is going to be so awesome!" exclaimed Serina happily. She practically skipped down the hall with a smile as wide as the Nile. Trunks smirked at her sudden happiness. Wasn't she worried just the other day?  
  
" Yep, I have to agree." He said as he smiled back, " I just hope I don't mess up."  
  
" I have never seen you mess up once while I was here. It's hard to imagine that you ever did." She said as she tried to imagine him screw up and fall, but she couldn't, he always seemed really graceful when he danced. At other times, however . . .she began to laugh a little at remembering him trying to jump over a brick wall. How he thought he could jump it, she never understood. The wall was about twenty feet up. It was a dare for a hundred bucks. As he attempted to go, he heard her laugh, and he turned his head to see, and WHAM! He was down faster than a dress on prom night. ( Love that expression.)  
  
" Anyways," she continued, " I don't think that anyone could do better than us." She finished matter-of-fact tone .  
  
" Miss confident, are we?" he mused and she glared, " Isn't that a little harsh?" He gave her a mock-astonished look to how she could say something like that.  
  
" Well, I don't mean to be," she countered, " It's just that we've worked way to hard for it to not be the best."  
  
They were almost at the ballet room when they saw Mike. He stopped for a moment when he saw them. He paled slightly as he continued to walk. He just stared at Trunks with a slightly scared gaze as he passed them, messing with his shirt all the while. Serina waited for Mike to leave before turning to speak to Trunks again.  
  
" What did you do to him?" she asked him as she raised a brow.  
  
" Nothing." Trunks grumbled darkly, his brow furrowed as he thought back on it.  
  
" Well "nothing" scared him enough to freak out at the mere mention of your name." Trunks gave a role of his eyes, "I've been meaning to ask you about it for a while, but I totally forgot. Now you look at me." She grabbed his chin and forced him to stare at her, " I made you promise me that you wouldn't hurt him, and I have a feeling it wasn't just a threat.  
  
" I want you to tell me the truth." she commanded at last.  
  
" You made me promise that I wouldn't kill him." Trunks retorted.  
  
" Trunks!" She looked at him intently as he squirmed under the intense gaze.  
  
" Ok . . . I was just insuring that he wouldn't be bothering you again, that's all." He explained. She gave him rather unsatisfied look, and he sighed heavily. Already she could tell when he wasn't telling her everything.  
  
" All right, I might've threatened him with a little more than just words." he said, " When he did that to you . . . well, it's over now, and I just scared him, that's all."  
  
They walked into the room and put on their shoes. Trunks struggled a little before getting it on right, then continued his explanation.  
  
" And, stupid strap," he muttered as he fixed his shoe, " Urm, he wont bother us again. I was just so mad that he would do that to you, and I just . . . lost it. I couldn't keep my temper in check. It's a nasty habit that runs in my family I suppose.".  
  
" So," she said while smirking, " even cool, companionate Trunks can give in to anger." Trunks blushed a bright red. Madame came in the room just as they finished stretching.  
  
" Ok, everyone pull out the bars." she said, her normal perk not present at that moment  
  
So everyone did as they were told, and did the normal practice. After they were done, Madame called everyone's attention.  
  
" I'm sorry everyone, there's been a slight change of plans." She began, " You see, I have to go to a funeral and spend some time with a close friend of mine. The tryout's have been moved to tomorrow."  
  
" WHAT?!?" the class screamed before falling to the ground.  
  
" Are you crazy?" Julie managed out. Everyone started shouting at once. Madame rubbed her temples slightly in agitation. But soon, the yelling got to her.  
  
" I'm sorry, I have no control over who lives and dies!" she yelled. Everyone quieted down immediately.  
  
" I have an obligation to my friend, and to the one who has passed on. I know you can understand; each of you had to have had a loss at or point or another. I have to ask all of you to relax and take a breather. It won't be so bad-if you practiced, instead of slacking off. I expect to see all of you tomorrow night, no buts about it, and I do mean all of you, or you're gonna see on angry professor. Let's get back to class, shall we?"  
  
When Madame Minkaso looked around, what see saw was dozens of rather shocked faces. They wouldn't be paying attention today.  
  
*****  
  
"Trunks," Serina gasped as they stopped at her ballet locker, " What are we gonna do? We have no time to review or improve--"  
  
" What happened to "Miss Confident"?" he asked as she scowled, " We've done ok so far, and I think that we're ready. What's the problem?" he replied, looking uncaring.  
  
" I wanted it to be perfect, all right?" she said as she crossed her arms over her chest.  
  
" Nothing's perfect, kid." Trunks said back, " And I don't want you to turn into my mom. She's a horrible perfectionist, and look where she is now."  
  
When Trunks thought on the subject further, he soon realized that his mother was abnormally intelligent and almost ridiculously successful. Come to think of it, his mom just sent him the final results of the memory modifier that she had been working on for almost eleven years. It was just a side project that she had fun with, it really didn't hold any importance, but the mathematical equations would make any genius' head spin.  
  
" Where is your mother now?" Serina asked curiously. She didn't want to turn into a cat lady like many lonely women.  
  
" Never mind," Trunks said airily, " I just proved that I was an ass all by myself."  
  
Serina couldn't help but laugh. She could never hold a bad mood while Trunks was around. She looked at him a little closer than usual.  
  
Serina felt that she had met him before. She might not have known him personally, but she knew that she had seen him from somewhere. His soft, purple hair was cut just below his eyes, it always seemed neat and clean. Serina couldn't deny that Trunks was good looking. Well, in her mind, "good looking" was an understatement. But the one thing that caught her attention most of all was his eyes . . . they were something else.  
  
Sometimes they were soft and full of laughter, and other times they were so unhappy it made you want to cry. And rarely did they ever get to the point of extreme anger. If they do, then the person who's under his gaze would best be careful. They'd flash maliciously and would get so cold and hard that it would make that person want to go off in a corner and die.  
  
But at this moment, Serina was glad to find that they were calm and comforting, like a nice warm blanket when it's cold. She could almost feel the warmth from his eyes wash over her.  
  
" How can you stay so calm?" asked Serina shyly, her voice speaking softly.  
  
" Because with a partner like me, no way we can lose." Trunks replied sarcastically and Serina managed a punch in the shoulder as he darted around.  
  
" All right, your pretty good, too." He exclaimed, hoping it would stop her from attacking him again.  
  
' I have yet to figure this guy out.' Serina thought, ' He's so comfortable to be around. Once I think I understand everything about him, he proves me wrong. He's a complete mystery. Guys . . .'  
  
*****  
  
Later that night, Serina was squeamishly pacing back and forth, trying to rid herself of this nagging feeling in the back of her mind. She assumed it was some type of anxiety thing. Since she wasn't a very sit- still kind of person, she was doing this. It still didn't help the anxious feeling at all.  
  
Serina suddenly got a dizzy spell and fell to the ground. Blackness surrounded her, but it left as quickly as it had came. She placed a shaky hand on the floor and lifted herself up. She breathed deep, feeling nausea creep up on her. She put a hand on her stomach as she stood up again, blinking away the sickness.  
  
" That's weird," she said aloud to herself, " that was the third time this week. I guess I'm still a little ill from that fight with Mike, hard to imagine. That was ,yawn, ages ago. I don't think I should tell Trunks about this, he'll freak." She glanced down and frowned when she saw her last assignment, "Well, might as well start on this paper." And she sat down to start writing about "music theory". About an hour into it, Serina yawned and put the last touches on it.  
  
Overwhelmed with sleepiness, she laid her head down on her desk and fell asleep, dreaming wonderful dreams that she would probably not recall in the morning. A smile spread along her face as she murmured " Trunks. . ."  
  
(hmm, I wonder what THAT implies . . .)  
  
Meanwhile, Trunks was staring out of his open dorm window. He leaned against the window frame, his eyes were distant and uncertain. He closed his eyes and breathed deep.  
  
The landscape around OSU was nothing short of wonderful. Water surrounded the whole west wing of the dorm area, which had four main areas: North, South, East, and West, the other buildings that had the actual classes in them were also labeled like this. Well, Trunks just so happened to be in the west wing, along with Serina. That's where the boy's section ended and the girls started. Serina's dorm was down the hall bay several hundred feet. (long hallway.)  
  
There were also several islands with many trees on them. Trunks' favorite was the largest that was located about in the middle. He had been to it several times himself. Trunks even debated taking Serina there, he recalled her telling him about how her brother would take her camping out in the middle of nowhere. She loved the wilderness as much as Trunks did.  
  
' Serina. . .' he thought with a slight smile on his face. She was the only one who could make him truly smile in a really long time. She wasn't like anyone he knew. She had this wonderful gift of being able to shoulder his problems as well as her own. It was like the weight of the world was on her back.  
  
' I'm doing it again,' he thought helplessly, ' I can't seem to get her out of my head lately. I know her pretty well, but I can't shake off this feeling that there might be more to her then it seems. And when she speaks sometimes. . . it's as if I heard it from somewhere already. I get a glimpse of a memory, but it leaves me before I make the connection. It's peculiar.' He walked over to his chair and flopped down, not bothering to close his window. He rubbed his eyes with exhaustion. He was staying up much later then he should've been, considering the fact that he had one: more classes then usual that day, a total of six, and two: the whole dance tryout thing. With that thought, his mind turned back to what he was thinking of before.  
  
' I wonder is Serina is nervous. I would expect her to be a little, she's into this much more than I am. Come to think of it, she's really the main reason why I like ballet. Sure, dancing's fun, but I miss training. Not doing it so much is making me crazy. But she helps me get over it, that dork . . .' he thought, plucking lint off of his shirt. A thoughtful smile graced his face as he came to a new realization.  
  
' She makes everything better. I haven't been this close to anyone since . . .since Gohan. And she's so weird sometimes; it confuses me, like when she fought Mike. It was like she knew that he was gonna lose before she even started the fight. And then she beats him with no trouble at all . . . though I understand that he is kinda slow in movement, and kinda stupid. . .pretty damn arrogant too, the little prat . . .  
  
' I guess the point is that she's different, but I have no clue what it is that makes her so. She is a complete mystery sometimes. Damn it, she's confusing me without even being here. Even when she's not around me she drives me insane.' His smile broadened.  
  
" I guess that's what happens when you like someone--" he said aloud, but stopping short after he realized what he had said  
  
' HOLY CRAP, I DID NOT JUST SAY THAT!!!' thought Trunks while spazing out. He slapped his head several times before calming down. His eyes were wide when he began to look around to see if anyone just so happened to be his dorm at the moment. ( can I say paranoid?)  
  
' Ok, I didn't just say what I thought I said. It's ok, I think of Serina as just a friend, nothing more . . . even is she does have killer legs and a great smile . . . and pretty hair . . . DAMN IT!!! I DID IT AGAIN!'  
  
Instead of going psycho again, Trunks just crawled over to his bed. He fell on it, being overwhelmed with sleepiness.  
  
" I only get like this when I don't train," he reasoned with himself, " It has nothing to do with the fact that Serina's hot . . ."  
  
Almost everyone in the west wing woke to the loud sounds of a furious onslaught of cursing.  
  
**************************************************************************** *******************************************************************  
The next morning, Serina woke with a start. She quickly noticed that she was at her desk still. She smacked her lips to remoisten her mouth as she glanced at her alarm clock, but then doing a double take at seeing the time.  
  
" IT'S 8:15?!? AGGHH!!!" she let out, realizing that her first class was in less than a half hour. She jumped up and ran to the shower. She turned knob, but nothing happened. She turned it a little more, but no water came out. She let out a furious scream as she ran back out.  
  
" Damn shower's broken, grrr." She muttered as she slipped into some fresh clothes. She grabbed her hairbrush and put her hair in a rather bumpy ponytail, not bothering to look at herself in the mirror as she ran out the door.  
  
She made it to her ballet locker, where she stuffed a lot of her extra books, and she grabbed what she needed and through it into her bag furiously. Trunks walked by Serina, but in seeing her he walked backwards to meet her.  
  
" Bad day?" he asked as she looked up at him. She let out a small sigh. Trunks looked at her, and suddenly fought back the urge to laugh  
  
" I guess you can say that, how'd you know?" she asked with a slight smile as she brushed a piece of hair back. She slammed her locker, which left a dent.  
  
" Because there's a pen stuck to the side of your face." he said as he laughed hysterically, his smile reached fully to his eyes.  
  
" Where? Well, stop laughing and get it off!" He pulled the pen off, but where it use to be now had a red mark with a blotch of black ink in its place. He was sure that he cracked a few ribs from trying to keep in the laughter. He didn't feel like getting hurt at the moment.  
  
" Come on," he said as he looped his arm through hers, " I'll escort you to the bathroom, so you can get that mark off." He pulled her along gleefully to the bathrooms down the hall. Her eyes became wide.  
  
" Mark?!?" she squeaked as they continued on. When they got there she ran to the mirror.  
  
" Oh my god, it's the size of Canada." She exclaimed.  
  
" Actually," he said with a serious tone, " it's more like the size of Portugal."  
  
Trunks made a not so manly yelp as she attempted to punch his stomach.  
  
" Oh, shut up, you! With the tryouts tonight, I'm a complete wreck." She yelled, her voice bouncing off of the ceramic walls making poor Trunks wince. She began to scrub furiously with a wet paper towel.  
  
" It's gonna be ok, don't you worry. We practiced as much as we possibly could, and today will be like another practice."  
  
" Except there's judges and people watching our every move!" she raged on as if she had been waiting for the right moment to unburden herself of all her insecurities.  
  
" Calm down!" reasoned Trunks, " Serina, it's all right. You'll be great, I guarantee it." He smiled a genuine smile that made Serina calm down. She blushed a little and murmured a "sorry".  
  
" How do you stay so calm, Trunks?" she asked him with admiration.  
  
" Well, I just remember that I've done things that made me prove myself. I had to prove that I could take care of things. After I think on it, things like this don't discourage me as much." He looked rather pleased with the answer, feeling just a bit wiser.  
  
" . . .Right . . ." she gave him a confused look, but then realizing that they were suppose to go to class," Crap, look at the time! We'll be late!"  
  
So they ran towards their physics class, arms flailing.  
  
********  
  
As if Serina's day could get any worse, it did. Later on during ballet, she did yet another mind boggling thing.  
  
The class was allowed to work on their routines because Madame Minkaso saw how scared everyone was.  
  
" Since no one's paying attention, the rest of the period is yours." she compromised.  
  
Serina and Trunks were most of the way through their routine. They turned lightly, doing a padaborie and a padasha. (Spelling? My French is ok, but most ballet terms are beyond me, so I just spell them on how they sound.) They were doing really good, up until some guy's foot got in the way.  
  
Trunks tripped over the foot, suddenly pitched forward with Serina in a bad position. If they fell, with Trunks on top, Serina was going to break her leg.  
  
It happened in no more than a blur. Suddenly, Serina was supporting both herself and Trunks. She was bent over backwards in a rather awkward position; her head was hovering three feet over the ground. She stared blankly at Trunks' surprised face, but soon realized the situation, and fell over.  
  
" Are you all right?" he questioned, looking at her with a worried expression.  
  
" I'm fine, what about you?" she responded back.  
  
" Yeah, I'm fine," he glanced at her with a strange look, " How'd you do that?"  
  
" Do what?" she asked innocently, her left eye fidgeting slightly.  
  
" Keep us up like that. Any normal person would have broken their back."  
  
" I wasn't that far back." She said weakly.  
  
He looked at her incredulously before saying, " You were three feet from the ground . . . BACKWARDS!!!"  
  
" Really? I was that far back? Well, er . . ." she thought quickly before looking to the clock, " Oh look, it's about time to go, hehe, I'll see you tonight!" and she zoomed off. Trunks looked around. It didn't seem like anyone noticed. ' Figures . . .'  
  
" She is defiantly not normal," he said, rubbing his eyes as if they were clouded, " Strange girl . . ."  
  
***********  
  
After all the practicing, it was finally time for the try out's. Naturally, Trunks' mind was occupied of thoughts of the routine, so there was no time to think of the situation with Serina earlier that day. He met with Serina, who appeared rather excited, but Trunks had a feeling that she was nervous as well.  
  
They walked to the hall outside of the practice room where they saw a couple dozen people lined up. Trunks glanced over, seeing Serina tremble a little.  
  
" You nervous?" he asked intently. She smiled up at him.  
  
" Maybe a little," she admitted and let out a sighed, " But I know I can pull this off."  
  
" What's with the change of heart?" he said while smiling as well.  
  
" Some guy told me some wise information to calm me down, but I think he was insane . . ." she looked up into his smiling eyes and laughed lightly. Trunks rolled his eyes and laughed a little too. He then looked at her shaking hand and took it, stroking the front side in a soothing manner, and gave it a re-assuring squeeze. Serina blushed violently. She had been debating about her feelings for Trunks lately. She had denied from the very beginning that she was attracted to him in that way, though now she wasn't so sure.  
  
' Ok,' she thought, ' I guess I like him a little . . . but only a little damn it. I'm just feeling a little lonely, and Trunks just so happens to be a sweet, caring guy . . . Yeah, that's it . . .'  
  
As the names of pairs were being called out, the hallway buzzed with nervous chatter arose. People scurried around, making sure that they had every little detail down. Frequently, people huddled together, doing weird chant things to pump themselves up. (^o^, freaks . . .)  
  
Serina busied herself by putting on her shoes and doing some stretches to limber up. Trunks soon followed and started warming up as well. As soon as they were comfortably stretched, they sat down again, waiting patiently for their names to be called.  
  
" Serina, Trunks, you're up." they heard Madame call out.  
  
" This is it." Serina muttered.  
  
" Remember," Trunks said as they walked into the room, " remember what the insane guy said, and you'll do fine." Serina just nodded her head.  
  
" Ok, can you explain your routine a little for me please?" Madame asked.  
  
" Sure," said Serina, fidgeting a little, " its kind of a love story. . . er, Trunks and I meet in a certain situation, and then fall in love. I guess you'll see in a minute." Madame's eyes glazed over.  
  
" I love those kind of stories!" she exclaimed, " Is it kinda like that Disney movie, what was it . . .oh yes, Tarzan?" (hee, I love that movie. I had to fit that in somewhere. I donno about you, but I think Tarzan's kinda cute . . .)  
  
" What?" asked Trunks with interest as he passed a c.d. to the c.d. dude.  
  
" Never mind." She said with a sigh, " Well, let's see it." And she threw up her hand to signal the music to play. Serina and Trunks got in their places, preparing themselves to do the best they could.  
  
The pair moved slowly, passionately throughout the whole routine. Their moves synchronized beautifully as they danced around the room. They faced each other, and Serina's eyes twinkled brilliantly with excitement as they met Trunks'. He knew how she felt, they had pulled the routine off. Now all they had to do was finish.  
  
As they did one last pose, applause filled the atmosphere.  
  
" Beautiful, guys!" Madame cried out as she gazed at them warmly.  
  
Serina and Trunks raced out of the room, talking feverishly of how they did.  
  
" God, that was amazing!" said Serina as they leaned against the wall. They still had to wait for the announcement at the end.  
  
" I told you not to worry." said Trunks with a slight air of amusement.  
  
" Me? Worry? . . .Nah . . ." she said and let out a ringing laugh.  
  
" Well, I knew you'd do great, anyways." he said as he smirked. She smiled admiringly up at him.  
  
" If it wasn't for you . . . I think I would've done horribly today. I've had so much help from you this year already, it's hard to imagine not having you here." she said softly as Trunks blushed.  
  
" I can't be all that great." he stated modestly. Serina reached up and pulled him into her embrace. His eyes widened in shock.  
  
" But you are . . ." she said quietly into his shoulder. He smiled lightly and slowly brought his arms to her back, closing his eyes. He hugged her tightly, breathing in the scent of her. She always smelled so good, even after dancing around. They stayed that way for a long time.  
  
********  
  
After everyone was done with their own routines, Madame Minkaso called everyone back into the room.  
  
" Tomorrow, as in day off tomorrow, as in Friday, 11:30 a.m. tomorrow, the posts are going up. Sunday, I'm on my way to Tokyo. Thank you everyone for your hard work, and I'll see you bright 'n early."  
  
The class filed out, stretching and grumbling, going to their dorms to get a good night's sleep. For tomorrow, yes tomorrow, the results are up.  
  
**************************************************************************** ******************************************************************* I hope you liked that chapter, it was a long one. I'll try to keep them coming. I've been having hell because I screwed my knee up in ballet, and I have band camp, too. DAMN MY STUPID, STUPID BAND TEACHER!!! (Nah, I love the guy, but he looks kinda like a turkey.) How 'bout some reviews? 


	5. The Truth is All too Painful

Chapter 5  
  
The Truth is all too Painful  
  
"Trunks, get up. It's eleven! The posts go up at eleven-thirty!" Serina screeched, thinking of what Madame said the night before," Get your ass up now!" She frantically glanced at her watch as she banged on the door. She heard a crash and some mumblings about "flying demon babies."  
  
"I'm up, I'm up! Stop screaming, please." Trunks yelled through the door.  
  
"We're gonna be late! ARR!!!" she complained. Trunks opened the door as he brushed his teeth.  
  
"Oskay, kkhold onn." he exclaimed, tooth paste flecking out off his mouth landing everywhere, then ran to the sink to spit it out, and back again, "All right I'm ready, lets go."  
  
Serina just glared at him with an incredulous stare.  
  
"What?" he asked. She just shook her head.  
  
"Never mind. Let's just hurry, or we'll never make it in time." And they ran down the stairs toward the lunch area, which had a café and other little mini restaurants that the two dined at often.  
  
When they did eventually get there, a huge line already awaited the results of all their hard work on their routines.  
  
"Damn!" Serina cursed, slapping her forehead, "I told you that we were gonna be late!" Trunks gave her an apologetic look as she slid down the wall. He turned to see two people making their way towards them.  
  
"Hey Jake, hey Julie." He said as his other best friends walked up to him. (Obviously, they aren't as close as Serina is . . .)  
  
"What's up with Serina?" asked Julie, who was looking over at Serina muttering darkly to herself.  
  
"Look at the line!" she yelled suddenly, "We'll never get to see the results!" and with that, she went back to muttering, rocking back and forth slightly.  
  
"I've got an idea!" the enthusiastic Jake yelled.  
  
" Whoa, that'd be a first." Trunks teased. Jake wasn't always the brightest person. He glared at Trunks, and turned to the crowd.  
  
"Posting change to the South Wing!" Jake screamed over the ruckus. Everyone who was waiting ran in a stamped to the other end of the building. All that remained were the four friends.  
  
"You are an evil genius." Trunks stated as Jake swelled.  
  
"Yeah, I know." he replied.  
  
"Look, the post!" Julie yelled. Madame was taping it up.  
  
"Funny," Madame Minkaso began, "I thought more people than this would be here." They couldn't help but giggle as they exchanged glances. Madame left, and they ran to the piece of paper. Each began to scan the page.  
  
"I'm one of the leads! I'm the supporting dancer!" Julie cried out.  
  
"Me too!" Jake screamed.  
  
"Of course, you twit. You're my partner." Julie shook her head, but hugged him anyways. The jumped up and down frantically as Trunks and Serina continued their search.  
  
"Trunks," Serina said as she leached onto his arm, "We got the lead parts!"  
  
"What?" he asked in disbelief. (Duh . . .who'd you think was gonna get the parts?)  
  
"We're the leads!" she yelled as she flung herself onto him, hugging Trunks so hard that he was having trouble breathing, but he returned the hug gratefully.  
  
"That's awesome," he said, "I told you that we'd do well."  
  
"And you're the person who doesn't really care about the "ballet thing". I thought I was the only one in this pair. I think I'm growing on you."  
  
Trunks smirked, "I guess you can say that."  
  
"Oh no, the mob's back!" gasped Jake, and they ran screaming down the hall.  
  
********  
  
The four of them went out to celebrate their roles and went to see a movie. It was a cool action flick that made Jake cry in the end.  
  
"B-but-he-can't-die!" she sobbed into Julie's shirt, who was desperately trying to comfort the distraught Jake.  
  
They went to lunch as well, and discussed how cool the rest of the semester would be. The waiter came to take their orders. Julie and Jake each got a slice of pizza, fries, and two Pepsis. (word?) Trunks, whose appetite was abnormally large, being a saiyan and all, ordered half the menu.  
  
"W-would that be all, sir?" the poor waiter asked.  
  
"That should be good for now." Trunks responded. The waiter paled.  
  
"And you, miss?" he asked Serina.  
  
"Oh, um...I'll have the same as him." She said, referring to Trunks. The waiter nearly fainted at this.  
  
"N-no problem." He responded weakly as he went to turn in their orders.  
  
"Whoa, Serina," Julie, who had never witnessed Serina eat, said in shock, "Why'd you order so much?"  
  
"I'm hungry." She stated simply, "And what's wrong with that? Why aren't you asking Trunks that?"  
  
"I donno, I just assumed that you wouldn't eat that much." She replied and Serina shrugged.  
  
"Well, I guess now you know. I have a really high metabolism."  
  
"So do I." said Trunks, who wasn't really phased by Serina's appetite. It was a little strange, but he remembered Goku and how he would eat, and he quickly shrugged off the whole thing. Besides, Serina could gain some weight and it wouldn't matter. She seemed the type off person who would just burn it off. And Trunks would've had minded if she gained thirty pounds, she'd still be gorgeous.  
  
While they were eating, Julie looked for something to talk about, and she found the subject at the table. She quickly noted that Trunks and Serina seemed awfully close. She couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed it before. They flirted constantly in her eyes. ' I smell a new project.' She thought, and gave a rather evil smirk and turned to Jake.  
  
" You know, Serina and Trunks would make a good couple." She whispered to Jake, who was eyeing one of Trunks' cupcakes  
  
"You think so?" he asked as he picked it up. She began to whisper ideas on how to get them together in an excited manner to him as he munched on the Trunks cupcake thoughtfully.  
  
"Do you honestly think that'll work?" he asked, interrupting her while she was in midstream of an idea.  
  
"Of course." She snapped. That got the attention of the pair across the table.  
  
"What are you guys talking about?" Trunks asked curiously. With those two, who knows what they could be planning. Jake played bass for Trunks' college band, and he was the one who often destroyed the equipment for fun.  
  
"N-nothing" said Jake and Julie at once. They shot each other a sideways glance before looking back at them.  
  
"Right . . ." Serina said, "What're you up to?"  
  
"We were just talking about yo--" Jake began, but a swift kick to the shin made him think twice before saying anything, "dolphins. Interesting creatures, I'll tell ya, hehe."  
  
They all just stared at him for a moment, not saying a word to disturb the silence. Julie was mentally slapping herself for telling Jake of all people. Jake slowly shrank into the back of his seat. He was sure to get an earful from Julie after this. Trunks, being the guy he was, broke the uncomfortable silence, fearing that if no one spoke soon, they would never get home.  
  
"Sure, they're interesting," Trunks began, "one time I was on a fieldtrip at the aquarium. I mean, they--"  
  
"Trunks," Julie cut him off, "everyone's done those stupid aquarium things, so save us the trip down memory lane, please!" Jake began to sniff.  
  
"I've never been to one." he said sadly, "I was afraid of fish when I was younger."  
  
"Oh, Jake . . . I'm sorry, it's not all that fun, anyways. When I said "everyone", I didn't mean "everyone"."  
  
"Well, let's see," Trunks said, facing Serina, "Have you been on one of those field trip things?" Serina smiled a little.  
  
"Actually, I was home schooled until high school, so no." she replied.  
  
"Yay, so you've never been there!" Jake cried joyously  
  
"I've been to one, Jake, just not for school." She told him.  
  
"NO, I'm the only one!" Jake screamed, "I'm all alone!"  
  
The group had finished their meals and got up to leave. They walked down the main street to get to their car, and on the way, Jake began to talk like he was insane—as usual.  
  
"Hey, maybe there are more people like me!" he began, "I should start a secret society, and I can be their king! Muah-ha-ha." He threw his head back and began to laugh uncontrollably. The other three turned to him and gave a rather disturbed look.  
  
"Jake," they all screamed in unison, "SHUT THE HELL UP!" and Jake coward the rest of the way home.  
  
They finally got to the University and walked to their dorms. Trunks waved good-bye to Julie and Jake and walked Serina to hers.  
  
"So, you happy now?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets, giving a smirk that would make Vegeta himself proud.  
  
"Of course. I've never had the lead in anything big, but that's not important. You and me, being the head of the whole thing . . .I couldn't have asked for more. Thanks for everything." She gave a small, appreciative smile that made Trunks gulp, but he smirked still.  
  
"Yeah, go on." He replied with a wave of his hand, "You did everything by yourself."  
  
"Sure." she replied with a smirk of her own.  
  
A scream that belonged to Jake broke their little moment. A loud "thud" was heard before he shouted, "I'm ok!"  
  
"I better go take him to his room before he kills himself. Honestly, how does someone like Jake get such a good part?"  
  
"I donno, I think that will remain a mystery. I guess I'll see you later." She replied softly.  
  
"Bye . . ." he exclaimed, looking in to her eyes, which shone in a familiar way. He smiled a true smile, not like his usual smirk, and turned around, "Hey Jake wait up!"  
  
Trunks walked down the hall to help his friend, but a sudden feeling overwhelmed him. Something was up, and he had a feeling that it was big. He gave a small shudder, but shrugged it off. He hadn't felt that way since . . .No, it was nothing. He was being paranoid. Everything would be all right, everything would be normal.  
  
But he was wrong; everything would not all right. Things would never be normal ever again.  
  
******  
  
Serina watched the retreating back of Trunks and thought dreamily for a moment. She unlocked her door and walked in. But instantly, a searing pain shot through her head. She grabbed at it and stumbled like a wounded animal. Something wasn't right. She began to swoon as an overwhelming dizziness came over her.  
  
"No, not again." She said desperately. Why was she fainting so much lately?  
  
She fell to the floor, darkness enveloping her as she lost consciousness.  
  
*******  
  
Serina opened her eyes and looked around. Some how she was on campus, but there was something wrong. She looked up and burning buildings were everywhere. She could almost smell the death around her. ' What happened?' she thought desperately. She looked around frantically for any sign of life. The only thing she saw was a speck in the sky. She tried to look closer, and she made out a creature, one that she had never seen in her life. He was blue in areas with specks of black everywhere. His tail swooped around in great movements as he made an energy ball and threw it at another building. He smirked evilly; his head had a somewhat coned look to it, though it was split down the middle. He turned to look at Serina, and his smile broadened. From Serina's experience with them, she assumed that he was an android.  
  
"Who are you?" she asked with rage. All of those innocent people . . .they never had a chance. The creature ignored her question and began to speak with a deep voice.  
  
"This place looks just like how android 17 and 18 had it before that twit destroyed them. I was so close to absorbing them, too. But thanks to Dr. Gero, I was able to take supplementary cells to turn me into this." He moved his arms to signify himself.  
  
"Who are you, damn it!" she repeated.  
  
"Sorry, how rude of me. I'm the spawn of Cell." When Serina gave a blank look, he sighed and continued, "I, like the other androids, was made by Dr. Gero."  
  
"That phyco guy . . .?" she asked. She knew that he had made the other androids, but this---this thing?  
  
" My "father", who was made of cells of all the greatest fighters on earth, was imperfect, so Dr. Gero made another from his cells, and bam. Here I am. My father was killed a little while ago. He was killed by that same twit who defeated the other androids."  
  
"I donno who this "Cell" guy is, but that doesn't matter. Why'd you destroy this place?" she asked, throwing her arm out wildly out to the burning city.  
  
"It's really none of your concern, but I'm here to find the guy that killed my father, and to finish what he could not. I'm going to destroy this planet."  
  
"What?!?" Serina yelled. She had to stop him.  
  
"Like I said, it's none of your concern." He replied. She shook with unexplainable anger.  
  
"Hmm . . . now that poses a problem. You aren't going to get the chance to do that, because you see, to destroy earth, you'll have to get through me!"  
  
"Ha, don't make me laugh. My chi far surpasses yours. I'll tell you right now, it's not going to last long."  
  
"Have you every heard of suppressing your chi?" she asked.  
Serina concentrated deeply and clenched her hands. Suddenly, her energy flared around her. Cell gave a rather surprised look.  
  
"Maybe this will be worth my time." He said, "But still, you're no match for me. I bet you that you won't last five minutes."  
  
"Yeah, you called it." Serina centered herself and leapt into the air. She flew to Cell and punched him dead in the face. It didn't affect him much.  
  
"Wow, you can fight. But now it's my turn." He exclaimed and punched Serina hard in the face as well.  
  
Down she fell, but she managed to stop herself in mid air. Again she tried to fight him head on, but Cell proved too powerful for her. She put up a good fight, but she was thrown to the ground behind a tipped car.  
  
"Is that the best you can do?" he asked with impatience, "If that's so, then this battle will be over soon. HAHAHA!!!" and with that he cracked his knuckles.  
  
Serina peered over the side of the car, grasping painfully at her side.  
  
"Oh, great," she whispered, "What do I do now" She turned her head when she heard shuffling.  
  
"Oww," said a boy about the age of nine. His leg was trapped under the car.  
  
"Oh, god, are you all right?" she asked, scooting over to the child.  
  
"I'm ok." He said softly, "I'm just hurt. My parents . . . where are my mom and dad?" he asked.  
  
"That's not important right now. What I'm worried about is getting you out of here. What hurts?" she asked with concern.  
  
"My leg, that's it." He replied with a groan.  
  
"Well, I'm gonna help you and get your leg out from under there."  
  
"I don't think that's a good idea." He said, looking around with fear.  
  
"I think it's broken." She gave him a sympathetic look.  
  
"Well, lets see," and she felt around his leg, "Nope, the pressure on your leg is making it feel that way, but I don't think it'll give you much trouble. But we have to get this thing off of you, all right?"  
  
"Ok." He said, "my name's Jerenie, by the way."  
  
"Serina." She smiled, then gently put her hand under the car, and pulled his leg out for him, making sure Cell didn't spot them.  
  
"Does your leg feel better?" she asked eagerly.  
  
"Much better, thank you." he said back.  
  
"Ok, Jerenie, I want you to run to The Coffee Addict, it's a block down. There's an old bomb shelter down there, and I'm sure people are taking refuge in it, and it's much safer."  
  
"But what if that sees me?" he asked, pointing to Cell. He looked absolutely terrified by the idea.  
  
"Don't worry," she said, and brushed back his hair in a comforting manner, "a friend once told me that whenever something get tough, he'd think of something that he had to do that was much worse. And then he wouldn't feel so bad. Can you think of anything worse then this?"  
  
"No." he stated flatly.  
  
"Yeah, me neither. Well, can you think of something to look forward to?"  
  
"Sure," he said smiling, "By the way, do you like this guy?" Serina blushed violently.  
  
"How can you tell?" she asked, her face burning up.  
  
"Because you remember stuff that he says. I bet you that he likes you too."  
  
"And why's that?" she tilted her head in question.  
  
"Because you're hot." He said simply. She blushed even more.  
  
"There's more to love than looks you know." She lectured. He looked at her and nodded his head. Suddenly, he turned red as well.  
  
"Serina, can I ask you to do something for me?" he asked, and she nodded her head, "Do you think, since I might not get a chance to later, c- could you give me my first kiss?"  
  
She stared at him for a moment before she let out a laugh.  
  
"Of course," she began, "You're not so bad looking yourself." And she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. He blushed even more.  
  
"Hey, it was supposed to be lips!" He cried out.  
  
"Tut-tut. Never before the first date." She argued, and glanced over the car again, "Get ready to run. On my signal, ok?"  
  
"Yeah," he agreed, giving her his best "seductive" smile. She only shook her head.  
  
"Come on woman, I haven't got all day!" Cell yelled.  
  
"Ok," Serina whispered, "I'll see you soon."  
  
"But where're you going?" he asked desperately.  
  
"Someone's going to have to get this guy," she turned to smile at him, "and it might as well be me." So they crouched down, waiting for a good moment to go.  
  
"Bye!" was the last thing Serina said to Jerenie.  
  
"Good luck!" he said, and she jumped into the air, punching Cell hard in the stomach. He gasped for breath as Serina turned to see Jerenie make it to the other side of the block. She breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
" Come on, Cell. Let's start this!" Serina yelled.  
  
"Caa,caaaa, can't breath, caaa." He said painfully, "You little wench. You're gonna wish you never messed with me!"  
  
With a great effort, Cell managed to pull himself up strait. Before she knew it, he was on her faster than she could say "ouch". He punched as much of her body as he could, slamming a fist right above her eye. It bled profusely as she tried to wipe it off. She backed away and shot some energy blasts out of her hand and aimed it at him. He dodged them like they were nothing.  
  
They continued like this for many minutes, Serina barely hanging on. Again and again she tried, but as hard as she pushed herself, it didn't help.  
  
She charged once more, but a shrill voice caught her attention. Someone was calling her name. Her eyes widened with shock as she came to the realization of who it was.  
  
"Serina, stop it now!" Trunks' worried voice boomed from behind her. He was running, desperately waving his arms wildly. Serina turned to see his terrified face, "You don't know what you're dealing with!"  
  
"What? Trunks get away from here you idiot!" She screamed out, letting her guard down.  
  
"Trunks," Cell said in disbelief, and then letting a scowl grace his face, "Well, I'm glad you're here. I was just about to kill you friend."  
  
Cell grabbed her from behind and placed a hand on the small of her back, sending a small, orange energy blast loose. Her eyes widened with pain and she let out a scream. Blood spurted from her mouth as the blast went through her stomach.  
  
"Ha, pathetic." Cell said as he dropped her like a rag doll, and she hit with a sickening crunch.  
  
Trunks wasted no time in running to Serina's aid. He dropped to his knees, looking at her helplessly. He picked her up tenderly, cradling her damaged body, wishing that he could do *something.  
  
"T-trunks!" she sputtered desperately, blood flowing down her chin.  
  
"Don't talk," he began, "I don't know how you were able to fight him, but--- "  
  
"Trunks, listen, I don't have much time. I want to, need to tell you so much."  
  
"Tell me later. Why would you attack as guy like that?" he asked, his eyes pleading.  
  
"Because no one else would have." She replied with a tear. He wasn't listening. She had to tell him everything, even about how her life was before.  
  
"I would have! You didn't know what you were dealing with . . .god, not again, not her too. . . please."  
  
Serina placed a bloody hand on his face, tears falling shamelessly down her pretty face. Trunks looked into her eyes, realizing that it was inevitable; Serina was going to die. She rubbed his cheek with her thumb in a soothing manner. Trunks grabbed at it painfully. It was happening again. He was losing the last person that he loved. He was going to be alone again. They stayed that way for what seemed like forever, before Serina's eyes began to droop.  
  
"Trunks . . . I want to tell you that I . . .that I . . ." She began, but her strength left her. Tears ran even more. She couldn't even speak anymore. Her eyes slowly closed, drawing her breath one last time.  
  
Serina was dead.  
  
"No . . ." Trunks said with a shaking voice. He let out a bitter tear. She was gone. He let the tears flow freely for a moment before standing up to face her murderer. He wiped his face quickly. He said one last comment to Serina's dead body.  
  
"Don't worry, Serina . . .you sacrificed yourself to save everyone, so I will do the same. I won't let your death be in vain!"  
  
*******  
  
"TRUNKS, NOOO!!!" Serina screamed out, jolting up quickly, holding out her hand as if to reach him. She breathed hard and placed a shaking hand against her head. What was that? A dream?  
  
' No,' she though, ' no, it couldn't have been. It was a sign, but why?'  
  
She looked around and noticed that she was no longer in her dorm, but in Trunks'.  
  
"I see you've finally woken up." Said Trunks, who brought a tray of tea over to her. He placed it on the nightstand next to the bed she was on. He looked up to see a disturbed face.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked seriously. She shook her head and let out a shudder. She quickly got up and hugged him tightly. He seemed surprised by this act, but soon hugged her back with a tight embrace.  
  
"I'm so glad you're safe." She sobbed. His eyes went round. What was she talking about?  
  
"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" he asked. She shook her head violently. Trunks looked at her incredulously. He could almost feel her fear. It radiated off of her like a fever, and Trunks felt like he was beginning to catch the bug. She shook as if she was in pain.  
  
"Serina, what's wrong?" he asked softly, "Are you hurt? Did someone attack you?"  
  
She remained silent.  
  
"I can't do anything for you unless you tell me what's wrong. I need to know whatever's troubling you."  
  
All Serina could do was cling to him. He was still there, but he hadn't really died in the dream thing anyhow. But she felt that he was going to be next.  
  
"I found you unconscious on the floor of your dorm. I'm worried."  
  
She looked at him. Should she tell Trunks? No . . . she couldn't tell him, not now. He was always worrying about her. But soon . . .  
  
Trunks tried again. He poured her some tea and she took it gratefully. He watched her intently as she met his gaze.  
  
"I guess I haven't been feeling well." she said, but Trunks raised his brow in question. He wasn't going to fall for that. ' Damn.' She thought.  
  
"I was feeling a little faint, so I just—collapsed." She continued.  
  
It seemed to satisfy his curiosity a bit.  
  
"What were you dreaming about?" he asked, trying to see how much he could get out of her. She looked to the ground.  
  
"It was nothing. I have a couple weird ones every once in a while, but nothing too serious," she stole a glance, deeming that she should tell him a little bit of the truth, "But this one . . .was particularly detailed. I've never felt so . . ." she met his gaze once more, "so helpless." It was quiet for a moment.  
  
"Are you going to be all right?" he asked with concern. She nodded her head and stood up.  
  
"I'm gonna get some sleep. Can I talk to you tomorrow?" she asked.  
  
"Of course. Do you need me to come with you?" he looked her over. She probably could use his help.  
  
"Nah. I'll be fine. You worry far too much. It's not good for some one your age." She laughed a little. His eyes went soft.  
  
"I try, but I just don't want to lose you. Sometimes I'm afraid that you'll disappear like every one else. I can't help but worry for you. Sometimes I wonder if I'm under a cursed. If you get hurt, I think I start believing it. "  
  
She gave him a haunted look. She was just thinking the same thoughts a while ago. She placed the untouched tea back on the tray, and turned to hug him tightly, as if she would never see him again. She buried her head in his neck, trying to control the nervous feeling in her stomach.  
  
"You're not cursed. I'm still here, aren't I? I guess I'll try not to do things that make you worry." She compromised. She walked out the door, smiling sadly. He cared for her way too much. It would make lying to him so much worse.  
  
"I better watch her," Trunks said as the door closed, "There's something going on, and I better find out before she hurts herself."  
  
*******  
  
Later that night, Serina paced pack and forth, debating with herself. She had made a deal with herself. She was going to make a final decision by midnight that night. Whether or not that dream thing was real or not.  
  
"Fifteen minutes." She said softly after glancing to her clock. ' This is so stupid. Not even here can I find peace.'  
  
"Ok," she said to herself aloud, "There's got to be clues to help me with this. If it was just a dream, then how can I remember every last detail about it? And why would I collapse like that? I blacked out, and then fell to the ground. It was like being pulled from my body . . .It was if I had left this time completely. The weather was warm. It's chilly now-- "  
  
She stopped mid-sentence. She wasn't supposed to feel in a dream. But she did, she had felt every single blow from Cell, the warm breeze, Trunks' ragged, scared breath on her face after falling . . .  
  
She sat on the edge of her bed and covered her face with her hands. This was so bizarre. This couldn't be true. But she felt the answer deep within her. It was real.  
  
"But the question is," she let out a sigh, "what do I do about it?"  
  
Of course, she knew what to do, but that would mean a lot of covering up. Trunks would know something was up. He had a sense about him, he could smell a lie off of her a mile away.  
  
"But what else can I do? I have to do this not only for innocent lives, but also for myself. I've let myself down for so long. It's time I take control."  
  
Serina felt a little better. Leaving Trunks like that probably wasn't a good idea. He would try to find out what was wrong. She looked at the clock that was hanging on the wall from across the room.  
  
It was midnight.  
  
"Now or never." She muttered to herself. She zipped up her sweatshirt and walked to her window. Opening it, she looked outside. There was no one. She went to her door as well, and checked through the peephole. Nobody.  
  
"Perfect." she mused and let herself smile.  
  
Almost instantly she turned around and walked back to the window.  
  
"God, I hope I don't suck now." She said as she looked down. She let her arms go strait out from her body and took in a breath, then doing the unthinkable.  
  
She dove out the window.  
  
The cool air whipped her face harshly as she fell. The howling wind banged against her ears as she went. Down, down, down she went, falling two stories of the five-story building. A broad smile found its way onto her lips as she abruptly turned up and flew forward to the biggest island on OSU.  
  
******  
  
Trunks looked up quickly from his book. With his superior hearing, he overheard a noise from Serina's dorm area. Like a door, or even a—  
"Wait!" he yelled as he stood up and dropped his book. He raced out of his room and headed for hers.  
  
"She wouldn't---wouldn't commit suicide . . . would she?" He shook his head. 'No,' he thought, 'she wouldn't do that. What reason does she have?'  
  
He got to her dorm and opened it.  
  
"She should be smart enough to lock the door, honestly." he muttered as he entered.  
  
Indeed the window was open, and the room very much without Serina. He ran to the window and peered over it, creating a curtain of lavender over his eyes. There was no sign of her.  
  
"Where is she?" he asked himself. He jumped out her window as well and circled the University twice. He went out over the water that surrounded OSU and there was sign of her. Suddenly, movement caught his eye. Rustling of leaves could be heard as he looked at the biggest island on the water. There was something on his favorite island! It had to be Serina.  
  
"If she's using drugs . . ." he said as he raced to the island. But where was her boat?  
  
He landed on the ground without making a sound. He looked around, hoping to see Serina. He jerked his head when he sensed something—peculiar.  
  
It was a large power source. Not quite as strong as his, but it was defiantly not normal. It was . . .familiar, as if he knew it from somewhere.  
  
He finally got to the area where there was a lake. There he spotted Serina. He quickly ducked behind a tree and looked on at the truly unexpected view in front of him  
  
"What is she doing here?" he asked himself quietly as Serina suddenly went into backhand springs. She then began to kick an imaginary opponent. Her moves were at a god-like speed. Never had he imagined she would be this good at fighting. But by this point Trunks was in denial.  
  
"Ok," he told himself, "This is still normal. She obviously is a much better fighter than she lets on. Who said it's weird to know how to fight? It's normal."  
  
Serina finished her kicking and stood straight. A glint of excitement shone in her eyes as she looked around to check what was in the way.  
  
"Ok, I haven't done this in a while, but I suspect that it's about as good as ever." she said aloud. She flexed her fingers as she crouched into a bended knee position. She placed her hands at her side, touching palm to palm. She smirked slightly and breathed deep.  
  
"Kaaa-meeee-" she said and began powering up as Trunks' eyes widened. He was still chanting, "She's normal", "haaaa-meeeeee-" a blue energy ball formed in her hands as she said at last, "HAAAAA!!!"  
  
A blast of huge mass came hurtling out from her hands as she extended her arms. It traveled further and further, almost hitting a town, but just as it was about to collide, she thrust her arms up, using two fingers on each hand to direct it. The wave went up too. It was launched into space just in time.  
  
Serina breathed heavily as she stood still, her only movements were the blinking of her eyes. Then a smile crossed her face as she exploded.  
"WHOOO, YES!!!" she exclaimed as she jumped around excitedly.  
  
"Tha-tha-that wasn't normal!" said Trunks in shock, and his eyes were round. He didn't realize how loud he was being, or that he was in fact out of his hiding place, totally exposed. She turned to face him. 'Oh, no . . .'  
  
"Trunks," she let out, "what are you doing here?" She tried not to look suspicious. 'With luck, I'll make him think he's dreaming. But how much luck can one possibly have?' she thought helplessly.  
  
"Er...well, I thought I heard a noise, so I went to check on you. The window was open, so I assumed that you were out somewhere. I saw something on this island, and I followed you here. H-how'd you do that?" he asked suddenly.  
  
"Do what, eh-he . . ." she said weakly. He smirked slightly.  
  
"There's no point in denying it, Serina, I saw everything. How'd you learn that?" he asked, but a little more firmly this time.  
  
Serina hesitated. This was going to confuse him. He'd probably freak out after knowing what she was. She had never told anyone. She wasn't exactly like Trunks. She wasn't exactly like anybody. He couldn't understand.  
  
' But he hasn't freaked out yet,' her subconscious said, ' maybe he won't care.' She thought on it only a moment more, ' I better get this out in the open before he finds out some other way.'  
  
"Serina?" he asked. She broke out of her train of thought. Yep, it was now or never.  
  
"My brother taught me." She said at last. Trunks thought quickly. There were only a handful of people who could do that technique.  
  
"Does your brother happen to be Master Roshi?" he asked suddenly. Her mouth dropped.  
  
"How do you know of him?" she asked.  
  
"He's an old friend of my mom's." Trunks explained.  
  
"No, of course not. How old do you think I am?" she asked, and he gave a sheepish look. She was only 18 after all, " Why'd you think that, anyways?"  
  
"I know he trains under the art of Kamehameha." He replied.  
  
"You know of that technique?" she asked in awe. He waved an impatient hand.  
  
"Sure, but wait . . .then who's your brother?" he asked. What was going on? The pained look on her face made him wish he had never brought the subject up.  
  
"A man named Gohan was." She said quietly. Trunks' jaw dropped. That was defiantly not the answer he was expecting. He was speechless. But Serina didn't notice.  
  
"And there's more," she continued, "I'm not exactly human either. It might be a little hard for you to understand, but my father was from a different planet. He was sent here as a baby and brought up as a human. The race, called Saiyans, bred fighters' mostly, and so my father liked to fight, too. That's why I'm a natural fighter. . .Are you ok?" she asked. Trunks looked rather pale.  
  
"Gohan's sister . . ." he said as he leaned against a tree. This was too much, "So that means you're . . ." he looked up at her, "Goku's daughter." She stared at him with shock.  
  
"You knew my father?" she asked while looking at him wildly, "but that's impossible."  
  
"Yes, I *know your father. I know Gohan, too." He said as she looked at him strangely.  
  
"They're dead. How...?" she asked him confusedly. He sighed. This was going to take a while to explain.  
  
"You see, there was so much destruction here, my mother thought that if we traveled back in time, we could prevent it again. I met Goku, and gave him some medication for his heart virus. He died fight Cell anyways, but--"  
  
"Cell?!?" she yelled. Her thoughts brought her back to her dream.  
  
"Yeah . . .uh, what's wrong?" he asked as his brow furrowed.  
  
"So it really wasn't a dream," she said more to herself than Trunks, and she turned to face him, "It's true then."  
  
"What do you mean? How could you know about him, anyways?"  
  
"Trunks, I don't know how, and I don't know why, but you know that dream I had?" she fixated him with a scared look.  
  
"Yeah?" he replied as he thought back to it.  
  
"It wasn't a dream . . .it was a premonition."  
  
"WHAT!!!" he exclaimed as he flailed his arms upward.  
  
"I saw the future." She said quietly, remembering all the death and she shuddered.  
  
"But what does it have to do with Cell?"  
  
"Plenty. He's called the "Spawn of Cell", or whatever. He said that his father was supposed to destroy earth. And that he was going to avenge his father's death by finding the guy who killed the androids and the first Cell."  
  
"Damn it, this is not good. Not good at all." He looked at her desperately, "What d we do?"  
  
"I don't know. I'm not sure what you can do though, you're human, meaning that there's certain things you can't do. . . meaning that he'll kill you."  
  
Trunks smirked. She didn't know that he was the guy who got rid of Cell.  
  
"I've fought his father before. Once in the past, and also not too long ago. You see, it was I who destroyed Cell." She looked at him in disbelief.  
  
"Then that means you killed the androids as well." She exclaimed with a mixture of awe and admiration. Trunks blushed, "Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
"I didn't want you thinking I was strange." He responded simply.  
  
"But how did you defeat him, you're not--"  
  
"I'll show you." He smirked.  
  
Serina looked on as Trunks prepared himself. All of a sudden, he began to power up. Her jaw dropped as his chi exploded. A second later, he had reached his super-saiyan stage with extreme ease.  
  
Serina rubbed her eyes. ' Am I really seeing this?' she thought.  
  
"You're a, a . . ." she couldn't even finish.  
  
"Super-saiyan? Yeah. Thanks to my Dad, who I got to train with while in the past, this isn't even half my power." He said as he powered down.  
  
"Your father has to be Saiyan then. I'm not alone!!!" she said happily, "You must be half Saiyan, too. Then who's . . ."  
  
"My father?" he prompted, "I think you heard of him. His name was Vegeta."  
  
"V-Vegeta?" she said in shock, "I have to say, from all the pictures I've seen of him you look much better." He blushed.  
  
"Thanks, but that was because he's always scowling." He said in defense of his father.  
  
"I could never understand why he was always so angry looking. But I can defiantly see the resemblance. You must've got most of your traits from . . .Bulma . . ." she finished softly. She rubbed her head in confusion.  
  
"You know my mom? You can't possibly. . ." he asked stupidly.  
  
" . . .But I do know her, Trunks . . .I've known her for years, but didn't know I knew her." He looked at her with a cocked eyebrow.  
  
"Huh?" he asked, his face scrunched from the confusion.  
  
Serina looked down, her brow furrowed as she thought deeply. It looked as if she was remembering something.  
  
"Trunks, try to remember. We knew each other eleven years ago." He looked down thoughtfully. He closed his eyes tight, hoping that something would trigger a memory that would answer all his questions.  
  
*  
  
"Gohan, what do you think you're doing?" a young Serina cried out. The older boy turned to see his sister land with a younger Trunks as well.  
  
"I told you to stay behind." said Gohan hoarsely. He was injured almost to the point of collapsing.  
  
"You think we would've let you do this alone?" Trunks screamed.  
  
"Leave you two. Now." Gohan gave them a stern look, "I said MOVE!"  
  
"No," said Serina, who had tears leaking out, "We're going to help you."  
  
The androids looked on with amusement.  
  
"I'd hate to break this love fest up," the dark haired one said, " But I really don't think we have the time. And I'm so tired of fighting blondy over there," he nodded his head toward Gohan, who was super-saiyan at the moment, "Aren't we sis?"  
  
"Oh yes," the blond one said coldly, "I think it's time we end this."  
  
*  
  
Trunks cringed. That wasn't the same memory he had of Gohan dieing. He couldn't remember the rest at the moment, it was like trying to remember a dream he had long ago. His memories were slowly surfacing. Serina was truly Gohan's sister.  
  
". . .You're right. We had to have known each other. It explains everything. You were there with me when Gohan was killed."  
  
Serina held her head painfully. She began to remember a little of it too. She bit her lip to prevent from tearing up. She bit it so hard that after a moment she began to taste blood.  
  
"I guess we have a lot to catch up on, eh?" she said and let out a little laugh, "Who would've thought that we were speaking of the same people. But why didn't I connect you to being Bulma's son before? I mean, Briefs isn't the most common name. How come we've never noticed?"  
  
"I had my suspicions." He said softly, "Something about you . . .well, I had the biggest feeling of déjà vu."  
  
"Talk about it," said Serina with a wave of her hand, "It's so crazy, but . . .understandable. You're defiantly Vegeta's son. Why didn't I notice before?"  
  
She hit her head softly, as if that would help with this dilemma.  
  
"I remember looking at pictures of all my Dad's friends," she continued, "Master Roshi would make me look at each photo everyday. He told me not to forget them. In a way, I had always felt like I knew my Dad personally. I would have these dreams of him and my family. Even now I can't explain why I feel this way. Weird, right?"  
  
"No, not at all," Trunks replied, and looked at her face, looking her over slowly until he rested at her eyes, "you're a lot like him, you know. You have the same eyes, though yours are blue. But they're just as expressive as his can be. And I won't even start on your appetite."  
  
Serina blushed. As much as she hated admitting this, she knew Trunks was right. It was almost as bad as Goku's.  
  
"Well, like you can talk. But you really think I look like my father?" she asked, her eyes glittering hopefully. He looked at her closely.  
  
"I think so. I'm surprised that I didn't see it before. Especially when you eat. You get that excited look on your face." He laughed a little. Serina pouted.  
  
"Master Roshi would say that, too." She snarled loudly, "But I miss him anyways."  
  
"How is the old guy?" he asked, "I haven't seen him in a long time."  
  
Serina rolled her eyes and shook her head.  
  
"Oh he's fine. Still old, still smelly, and still VERY perverted, the little freak . . ."  
  
"Why do you care that he's perverted?" asked Trunks curiously. Serina glared at him.  
  
"I've been living there for ten years. He's almost like a father figure to me, right?" she prompted  
  
"Right . . ." Trunks agreed.  
  
"How would you like it if your father was hitting on you?" she asked. Trunks fell over. He was laughing so hard that tears were streaking down his cheeks.  
  
"What's so damn funny?" she asked painfully loud. He looked at her with a smirk.  
  
"I'm just trying to imagine my father hitting on me. It's quite disturbing, actually." He said and laughed again. Serina looked horrified.  
  
"I think it's hard to imagine that guy hitting on anyone." She said softly and giggled as well.  
  
"Well, he put the moves on my mother, so why not?" They both laughed  
  
Serina brushed a lock of loose hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. She was so confused, and yet . . . she wasn't. She had another question after thinking of that.  
  
"What I still don't seem to grasp is the time travel thing and the Cell guy." She said honestly. H e slapped his forehead.  
  
"I'm not being too thorough, am I?" she shrugged at him as he continued, "A little more than a year ago, my mother told me that the time machine that she had been working on was complete. She told me that if I wanted to make things right for our loved ones, I had to go back into the past to one, give Goku his medication, and two, to warn everyone about the Androids, I think I told you that part earlier. Things were so bad here that it felt like I had no hope left. What else was there left to do?  
  
"Well, I went back, thinking that it could improve things here. But there was a problem. Timelines are difficult to understand. No matter what you do in the past, it cannot change the future much. I found that out the hard way. I was depressed, but I decided to fight with them, for there was more than just the androids to worry about."  
  
"Cell . . ." Serina finished softly. He nodded.  
  
"Right-o. We went through some training and other problems . . .with my father, but that's a different story. I can always save that one for a rainy day. Any ways, we went through the room of Spirit and Time. I assume, living with Master Roshi, you heard of it?"  
  
"Yes, I've spent some time in there myself," Serina let out a smile as she spoke, "I can also save that story for when you tell me yours."  
  
He laughed lightly, and ran a hand threw his perfect hair. He closed his eyes and breathed in slowly.  
  
"Continuing on, Cell was incomplete. He absorbed people to gain strength. I still remember the screaming. He needed the androids to mold into the perfect form. Well, he did absorb them, and soon after he made a tournament. That's when we used the room of Sprit and Time. At the tournament, your father fought him, but Cell soon over powered him. So Gohan fought."  
  
"What?" she asked in disbelief, "How old was he?"  
  
"I think eleven. Gohan has a hidden power, he brings it out when he's really distressed. He fought Cell with ease, but was easily consumed by anger. He was blinded by it, and Cell had time to blow himself up, threatening to destroy earth. Goku instant transmitted himself and Cell off the planet. But when Cell blew up . . .killing Goku in the process."  
  
"So he didn't survive after all." said Serina sadly. Trunks touched her arm delicately and she looked up at him weakly.  
  
"I'm afraid so. But Cell wasn't killed. Not all of his cells were destroyed, so he regenerated," Serina let out a gasp, "Gohan fought him off and killed him at last with one final Kamehameha blast.  
  
"After all of that, I went back home and defeated the androids. As I had promised, I was going to the past again to tell everyone that they didn't have to worry about me anymore. But along the way, I found Cell. He was still in his first form, so he was easy to destroy.  
  
"So there you have it. What do you think of all this?" he asked slowly, to be sure she was still with him. She shook her head.  
  
"I'm just so overwhelmed by it all. You did all of that?" she asked with admiration evident in her voice. Trunks flushed.  
  
"Yeah, I guess. It's not a big deal, honestly, anyone would've done it if they had the chance--" he started, but Serina intervened  
  
"No, not many people I know would. You are the most remarkable person I know."  
  
He flushed more.  
  
"You must not know a lot of people." He replied modestly.  
  
"Shut up, I'm trying to give you a compliment." She muttered and he smiled.  
  
"Like I said, Cell was in his first form, so he was not very strong."  
  
Serina gave him a questioning look. She tried to recall something about the dream, something that was important.  
  
"This "form"," she began, "you mean he can evolve and look different."  
  
"Yes." He said, "Why do you ask?"  
  
"I'm not sure, but I think Cell is in his later form . . . there was something that didn't really add up then that does now. "The Spawn of Cell", or whatever, said something about being altered to be in the ultimate form, though I'm not sure what he was implying." Trunks' eyes widened.  
  
" What kind of damage is he capable of doing?" he asked with a painfully serious tone.  
  
"Alright, think of the worst he could possibly do . . ." she exclaimed  
  
"Ok, and?" he responded.  
  
"I guarantee he's probably worse." She stated simply as he began to choke.  
  
"You can't possibly be serious." He said shortly, "There's just no way this is real . . ."  
  
"You have to believe me!" she cried out desperately, wringing her hands into his shirt, "Cell is going to come here, to OSU. There's no point in denying it. I was no match for him, and I had a feeling that you weren't, either."  
  
"I was in your premonition?" he asked in shock.  
  
"Yes, you were there. This is serious. In your mind, you know I'm right." She said so forcefully that Trunks had to look away, "Please . . . I need you. Trust me on this." Her eyes filled with fearful tears.  
  
"Could you show me?" he asked solemnly, a glint of remembrance shone on his face.  
  
"I can try." She told him.  
  
Serina let go of Trunks' shirt and placed her fingertips on his temples. Her eyes fluttered closed. She had meditation lessons from a monk she met once. She had learned how to project images into another persons mind, but she wasn't sure if it would work. However, her mind was set, she would have to try.  
  
She focused deeply. The dream flashed before her closed lids as she felt Trunks take a sharp intake of breath. He saw most everything, save the confessions of her true feelings. He saw Serina being pummeled by Cell, Campus in ruins, and the little boy. He saw himself screaming at her, Serina being grabbed and the energy blast that made its way through her as she screamed with pain. Her saw her falling to the ground, his saddened face, her last good-bye, how he held her lifeless body, the lone tear that he shed for her, and lastly, how he challenged Cell . . .  
  
"NOOOO!!!" Trunks screamed as Serina's arms fell to her side. He clamped his hands over his eyes, as if trying to wipe the image of her dead body away forever.  
  
But he couldn't. It wouldn't leave his mind.  
  
"What were you thinking?!?" he screamed out, "How could you take on a guy like that and not know the outcome? You're crazy, oh God, he killed you!" he ranted on as she tried to calm him.  
  
He ran his hands through his hair that was not so neat anymore. His face looked truly terrified. It was the first time Serina had seen that look on his face. The impact of it made her shiver all over.  
  
"So what's the status? Is he beatable?" She asked intently.  
  
"Not in the condition were in." he said quietly, "I hate to say this, but were in over our heads. He's much stronger than his father ever was. We have no chance."  
  
"Not even you can beat him?" she asked worriedly.  
  
"No, not even me." He stated with not but a whisper.  
  
"What are we going to do?" she asked as she buried her head in her hands. The weight of this was just too much at the moment. He thought for a moment. Serina stared at him intently. Her eye began to twitch slightly after a few moments of waiting. Another minute, and trunks finally came to a conclusion.  
  
"There's no other choice," he said gravely, "We have to train regularly."  
  
"But Trunks," she began, "No way can I get up there with you. My fighting skills don't come close to yours. What can I do to help? I'm useless." He shook his head slightly and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.  
  
"You do not. I haven't witnessed you fight personally at your greatest level. And from what I saw of you in that dream thing, you are exceptionally good. I've never seen anyone stick out a fight like that with him. You are every bit as good as I am."  
  
"Don't you lie to me." She said as she looked down modestly, "I don't think I'll every get up to you level."  
  
"With hard work, you'll get there. You'll even become Super Saiyan." She snorted at his remark.  
  
"No way. I've been working on it for years. I don't think it's possible."  
  
"You just don't have the right motivation." He said faintly. She remained silent for a moment.  
  
"It's hopeless." She said at last, "This shouldn't even be your problem. This is all my fault. I can't believe I got you into this." She rubbed her eyes to stop painful tears from coming down. She didn't want to cry. When she cried she showed more than she wanted to. It showed that she wanted to be told that she was loved. It showed her vulnerable side.  
  
"Look, Serina," he said more forcefully, lifting her chin up to face him as he spoke, "you are the best person I know. You've been there for me countless times, but you never allow me to help you with your problems. I'm here now, and that's not going to change. I'm here to stay, and I'm helping whether you like it or not. You are not going through this alone."  
  
Serina found it really hard to hold the tears back now. Trunks was willing to risk his life for her. How could she show him gratitude after such loyalty? She slowly laid her head on his chest and let a tear escape by mistake. Not that she'd ever let him see it. "Why do you have to be so damn wonderful?" she asked with a tremble in her voice. He set his hand a top her head and brought her under his chin. He caressed her back softly as he hugged her.  
  
"You don't have to strong all the time." He said lightly, "You can let me in some times, right?"  
  
"It's not that," she began, "I feel if I let my problems get to me, I'll fall apart. I've worked so hard to ride my mind of nightmares. But now, I don't think I can stop them from coming any more."  
  
"Don't worry, you have me now. We don't have to lie to each other." He said soothingly.  
  
"I wanted to tell you so many things, but I was afraid that you wouldn't understand." She confided. He smiled slightly at her.  
  
"You took the words right out of my mouth." He replied, amusement evident in his voice. She looked up at him with her dark eyes and studied him for a moment.  
  
"I still don't know how I can do this, but where ever you go, I'll follow you." She agreed. He gave a rather toothy grin as he hugged her once more.  
  
"Well, I can see what we have to work with tonight, and start from there." He said.  
  
"What? Now?" she asked urgently, as if he was asking her to do a dirty deed.  
  
"Let's just see how you do, ok?" he asked with a pout. She looked away, rubbing her temples.  
  
"I hate that face." She muttered softly. He took that as a yes.  
  
"Well, I guess we can start. Prepare your self." He told her as he flexed his fingers.  
  
"What do you mean--" she began, but before she could finish her sentence, Trunks hurtled an energy blast at her. It was only a few feet away when she finally registered what was happening.  
  
"AGGGGGGGGGGH!!!" Serina screamed out as she dodged it with a tricky bend of her back. She breathed heavily, trying to control the adrenaline rush that she received in that surprising moment.  
  
"Damn it, Trunks, what if that hit me?" she huffed out as she marched over to scold him further. She didn't feel much like being singed.  
  
"I knew it wouldn't hit you." He replied with a wave of his hand.  
  
"Oh, did you now?" she asked as she crossed her arms. He shrugged.  
  
"It wouldn't have hurt you much anyways." He replied in a careless tone.  
  
"Ohh, you are so dead." She growled.  
  
"Am I?" he asked, "I'd like to see you fight again. Go for it." He smirked.  
  
She stared at him strangely for a moment, as if he had a opossum on his head.  
  
"Alright." She said weirdly before darting at him.  
  
' Whoa, she's fast.' Trunks thought as he blocked a punch of hers and ducked from a jab. She bobbed left and right, moving faster than he'd expected her to be able to. She was far more skilled than she lead him to believe. He was still much stronger, but she wasn't that far behind him.  
  
Suddenly, Serina made contact with his stomach. Trunks felt his air escape him as he hunched over with the force of the impact. He wheezed painfully as Serina helped him stand up.  
  
"Oh, Trunks, god I'm so sorry." She screamed over and over as she gave him an apologetic look.  
  
"It's-ok-Serina. I'm fine," he gasped out with an unusually high-pitched voice.  
  
"I didn't realize I put that much force into it. Normally I have a better control over it." she explained to him extremely quickly, "I was just so, I donno, upset about the whole situation, I felt overwhelmed. I kept thinking, "If I screw up, this whole thing will be a waste of time," and I couldn't stop thinking and--"  
  
"Relax Serina, I'm ok." he said, his vice still sounding as if he sucked a full container of helium. He held his head, trying to control the spinning from Serina's big rant. He stood up strait with a lot of difficulty.  
  
"I think you have the same problem Gohan had," he continued, coughing to get his regular voice back, "He couldn't always control his emotions, but he eventually concurred it. I think you were just a little distracted. You still train right?"  
  
"Yeah, but not as much as I should be. Ever since the androids were destroyed, I figured that I could take a little break from it. I guess my break's over, huh?"  
  
"For the both of us." Trunks agreed.  
  
"Master Roshi said I could be as strong as my Dad someday, and I'm pretty sure that I'm as strong as he was when he was my age."  
  
"Nope," Trunks smile, "How 'bout stronger?" She stared at him in shock.  
  
"You're kidding me, right?" she asked.  
  
"Believe it, its not far fetched at all. You've far surpassed Krillin and even Piccolo."  
  
"Krillin and Piccolo?" she asked in confusion, "I know the names . . . Piccolo was the short, bald monk, and Krillin was the Namek, right?" she asked.  
  
"No, the other way around." Said Trunks, flipping his arms to emphasize, " I thought you would've known that."  
  
"It's been a long night." She said in an apologetic voice.  
  
"Let's get home, and we can discuss this more tomorrow." He told her.  
  
"Trunks?" she asked as he bent down to tie his shoe.  
  
"Hmmm?" he replied, letting her know he was listening.  
  
"I want you to know that I'm happy to have you here to help me." She said, and he stood up to face her.  
  
"I'm just glad that I don't have to be alone anymore." He smiled, "It's nice to know there's someone out there who's half Saiyan."  
  
"You would've never had to be alone while I'm here." She told him, and he smiled more.  
  
"You can fly ok still, right?" he asked.  
  
"Sure, I'm a little rusty . . ."  
  
"Seriously?" he asked in a worried tone.  
  
"No." she smirked, "Let's go."  
  
And with that, the pair leapt into the air, feeling as though all their questions had been answered finally. The flight home wasn't very eventful, except Serina did a fake fall, freaking Trunks out. So he pushed her into the water. But things wouldn't stay this good forever. They had a problem, and it could happen at any moment.  
  
*************************************************************************** ************************************************  
  
So, did I catch you off guard? I thought so. I was thinking about putting this as two chapters, but I'm too lazy. It's a reallllly long one. I hope you like it, and give me reviews . . . nnnnnnow. 


	6. Training Begins and the Past Revealed

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with DBZ. Serina, however, is mine.  
  
Training Begins and the Past Revealed  
  
Over the next week, Serina and Trunks couldn't concentrate on anything. Serina's mind was plagued by the painful imagery. She couldn't wipe the image of the premonition from her mind. It haunted her while she was working on school, dance, thinking, she couldn't even sleep without seeing Cells face looming out of the dark. Trunks, however, was thinking of something quite different.  
  
A few days after finding out that Serina was a Sayain and having most of his questions about the mysterious girl finally answered, Trunks shut himself in his dorm. He was thinking, thinking about Serina-again. He paced back and forth over and over again, not knowing what to do or think.  
  
' *Sigh,' he thought, 'I can't remember what happened then, but I'm sure that Serina and I trained together. I haven't trained with a girl since then; I don't know how I should take this. Should I go easy on her so I won't hurt her?' He thought for a moment, and then shook the thought away.  
  
' No,' he told himself, ' She'd kill me if I went even the slightest bit less then what I'm able to. She's strong, and she can take most anything. I think with a few weeks of training, I can get her up to where I want her to be. But . . . how do I train with her? I'm unsure of how I should do this . . . and it's not the reason that I'd expect it to be. I'm worried that I might hurt her, of course, but that's not it. The worst thing is, the most horrible, inconvenient problem that could happen right now. . . he sat down with frustration, taking his head in his hands and took in a shaky breath, not wanting to admit what he needed to tell himself. If he said it aloud, it would be final, no taking it back. Thinking on that notion, the truth hit him hard.  
  
" I like her." He said softly, " How can I train her if I'm worried about what could happen to her? I have to protect her no matter what. But I don't think it's just liking her anymore. I think it's leaning more toward-- "  
  
Suddenly, Trunks heard a knock from his door. Serina poked her smiling face in his dorm, looking quite pleased to find him still there.  
  
" Hi." She said as she came to sit down in the plushy chair next to him.  
  
" What are you doing here so late?" he asked in mock surprise, " I know how much you hate to break curfew."  
  
She made a face and continued, " What are you doing?" she asked.  
  
" Just thinking about what to do for the training session, that's all. Why do you ask?" he questioned as he placed his feet in her lap. She gave a disapproving glare but made no effort to move them.  
  
" You look a little concerned." She said simply. He just shook his head.  
  
" We'll, I have a good reason to be a little concerned, but it's nothing. So what's up?" he said as she looked up. She gazed at him for a moment, not blinking or moving as if she were looking for something on his face, something that would help her. She quickly snapped out of it and blushed lightly, looking to his feet once more.  
  
" I just wanted to know when we were starting the training, and stuff." She replied shyly, sounding as if it wasn't what she was originally going to say. Trunks thought that she was acting a little weird. She was hardly ever shy with him. She was thinking of something, but he decided not to worry about it.  
  
" Well, I have band practice tonight in a half hour or so, how bout tomorrow?" he asked. She nodded in approval.  
" That sounds good to me. I have a meeting tonight with my professor. I have to compose a piece for a grade, and then teach it to high school students. I also have to play with them to show my skills." She replied in an exasperated tone. He raised a brow.  
  
" Compose a piece? What instruments do you play, anyways?"  
  
" Plenty." She said smoothly, " I play violin, sax, some guitar, a little bass, piano, clarinet--"  
  
" Ok, forget I asked." He replied, his eyes wide with surprise, " I had no idea you played all of those. God, are you some kind of freak?"  
  
" I like to have a lot on my head, is that so bad?" she asked pleasantly as she messed with his toes, " So, tomorrow around eleven-ish?"  
  
" That sounds good to me." He said back. She pushed his feet off her lap with an "oomph" and stood up to exit.  
  
" I'll see you tomorrow then. Good luck with practice." And with that she kissed him on the cheek. He stood speechless for a moment before responding back.  
  
" And you with you're a-a-a meeting thing." He stuttered helplessly. She giggled and said bye before leaving the red Trunks.  
  
As soon as she left, he hit his head with his hand and began ranting," Why do I act so stupid? GOD! Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid . . ." he said as he hit his head softly against the wall. After a few minutes, a crack snaked its way up the wall, sparking little spindles at the end.  
  
As he was in mid bump, an idea popped into his head. A song? It was just a melody at first, but then the song began to take form, words attaching soon after. He reached for a pencil and paper and sat down to write the be comings of a song. After twenty minutes or so of pouring his heart onto the paper, he realized he was late for practice. He hurried out, leaving the song there.  
  
The next night after discussing where they'd meet on the island, the pair took off for the trip. A million questions popped into Serina's head as they flew over the crystal like water of OSU. She was dying to ask Trunks if he remembered anything else.  
  
Sometimes, late at night, Serina would wake up from a feverish dream, screaming out Gohan's name. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't recall much at all. She'd cover her eyes, pretending that she was asleep so the image would play for her again. But it was all for naught. She would cry out in frustration every time.  
  
But lately, the day that Gohan had died, along with many other things, had been becoming more and more clearer. Gohan's death was in her head, but she wasn't willing to except the truth quite yet. She grew up believing something different, it's hard to change. She looked at Trunks again, wondering if he was thinking the same things she was.  
  
All the questions remained unanswered, however, when she saw how calm Trunks looked. He was quite somber as they touched down on the soil of the island, landing in the exact same spot Serina was at last time. He would have questions as well, but he was keeping it inside of him, so she would too.  
  
" Well, this looks like a good place to start. It's a good area. Lots of trees, though." Said Trunks, who was surveying it closely for the first real time. There was plenty of space, except the few trees that strayed from the rest of the woods.  
  
" Yeah," she said back, " There's a lake over there too, if you want water or a bath, because I know you get smelly sometimes." She smirked at him, but he only smirked back.  
  
" Would we share bath time? I mean, I get really lonely, and you could be my bath buddy. I bet you that you need someone to scrub your back, and I know I need someone to reach those trouble spots." He replied as she turned bright red.  
  
" I don't think so, you pervert. Any who, do we get to start now?" she asked eagerly. He smirked with amusement.  
  
" Ah, yes young grasshopper, I think we shall start with a warm up." He replied  
  
" What type of warm up, *master," she said sarcastically, " stretching or whatever?"  
  
" Not that type of warm up." He told her, " Get ready."  
  
" For wha--" she started, but was cut off by Trunks hurtling two bright yellow energy balls in her direction.  
  
" GAGHHH!!!" she let out as she dodged the first one by doing the splits in the air, the second missing her head by inches.  
  
" That kind of warm up." Trunks finished, " Isn't it great!"  
  
" Great," she let out in a low growl, " just great." And before she could go and kill him, Trunks sent another five her way.  
  
" Unbelievable!" she cried out as she dodged the first two, " I can't believe this guy. Whoa!" she dodged a third one from behind, " I'm gonna kick his a--" and she flipped over the forth, then immediately turning to blow up the last blast with her own. She swiveled to face Trunks. She marched to him; shear anger displayed on her face.  
  
" I'm going to KILL you, you evil, psychotic son of a --"  
  
" Whoa there, Serina," he said, fear evident in his voice, " calm down. It was just a test to see how well you do with more than one thing coming at you. Obviously the exercise was mediocre, but how was I suppose to know that you were so far already?"  
  
" You want me to--to calm . . . calm *down?" she said, almost in hysterics, " How can I calm down with the-the whoosh, and the AGGH, and the- the," she screamed while throwing her arms around wildly. Trunks quickly grabbed her by the shoulders and gave an apologetic look.  
  
" I'm sorry! I had no idea you would react like this, relax ok?" he exclaimed in a pleading voice. She quickly calmed herself.  
  
" A little warning or hint might be a good thing for you if you want to make it through these training sessions." She said quietly, " It's not the fact that I can't defend myself against those typed of things, I just haven't had a real head to head combat with anyone in a while. The element of surprise might be a little iffy right now"  
  
" From what I saw, it didn't look that way." He replied, " That was some quick work there. I have to admit, you're speed is . . . rather impressive."  
  
" It's nothing to wow about." She said modestly, " Mine's nothing compared to yours."  
  
" I wouldn't say that." He responded.  
  
" I would." She said with a note of finality in her voice, but continued on with a sense of un-sureness, " I just feel like I don't have enough in me to reach where you are now. I feel . . . weak."  
  
Trunks snorted in reply, " You think you're not strong compared to me? Come now Serina, don't put yourself down. I think you may be a little confused. How about we start sparing and I'll show you how " weak" you are."  
  
Trunks began to power up, which only lessened Serina's spirit even more.  
  
" I don't know what you're thinking, but powering up isn't going to help." She told him but powered up as well.  
  
Suddenly, both charged forward, their impact was like throwing two boulders at each other. The fight had begun.  
  
Serina punched and blocked and did whatever she possibly could to fight back Trunks' obviously stronger abilities. Serina was having fun, but she did not like to lose. He knew of this and gave her a slightly arrogant smirk.  
  
" You're ENJOYING this?" she bellowed over the clash of their fists.  
  
He thought for a moment. Actually he was enjoying their session a lot. It had been a while since he had a really good spar with someone, and Serina was easy to anger. Oh yes, he was going to have a lot of fun this year . . . .  
" Of course I am," he yelled back, determined to get her to fight at her best level, " You're just upset because you're going to lose."  
  
" You think so?" she asked back. She had to keep her cool. She was easy to manipulate when she was angry.  
  
" Oh, yes. In fact, I bet you that Jake could probably take you down."  
  
" Yeah, if he tripped on me." She replied coolly.  
  
" Well, I bet you that I'll win this fight." He told her as she ducked from a punch.  
  
" Don't flatter yourself." She told him, Trunks recalling that Gohan would say that phrase when Trunks got too confident, " What are you going to bet?" she asked, almost afraid to hear his answer.  
  
" If I win, you have to . . . do my laundry for a week."  
  
" Oh my god Trunks, that was so lame." She replied.  
  
" You didn't let me finish. Jake and I do each other's laundry, his goes in there too."  
  
Serina let out a scream, nearly falling out of the sky.  
  
" Underwear too?" she coughed. He nodded his head, " If I do that, then you have to agree that if I win you have to do my laundry too, and clean my dorm."  
  
" That's not fair!" he cried out.  
  
" It includes my underwear too."  
  
Trunks choked, allowing Serina several punches while his guard was down. This wasn't going to turn out pretty.  
  
" A-are you serious?" he stuttered fearfully, " *your underwear? Um . . .are you sure you want me, a male, to be handling your underwear?"  
" Yep. If I have to do yours, you have to do mine. It's only fair." She replied in a singsong voice.  
  
They stopped fighting for a moment, pausing only to think. This wasn't a good situation to be in. But if either of them backed down, it would show the other that they were . . .well, chicken. And what a horrible prospect that would be. Yep, it was the battle of the stubborn demi Saiyans. Who would win?  
  
" Alright," said Trunks at last, " I accept your conditions. But it was a very hard decision." he sniffed.  
  
" Funny, I never thought you a conservative person." Mused Serina as she darted at him again. They began their fight again. The two fought fiercely for a long while. Trunks punched Serina hard in the face. She flung helplessly toward the trees, but forcing herself to stop. Trunks, though not his best, was astonished.  
  
" Not so easy Trunks." She called out, " I might not be as good as you, but I can still kick your ass."  
  
" I don't doubt that!" he said shrilly, " I was just trying to provoke you a little, that's all. You're a little slow with you're dashing, though."  
  
" I guess I'll work on that." She said as they powered up and went at it again.  
  
An hour flew by quickly, and neither showed signs of giving up. Trunks, of course, hand the upper hand, but Serina was determined. She fought hard against him, but as much as she tried she couldn't find anything wrong in Trunks' elite fighting style. It was as if he was perfect.  
  
After the millionth time that night, Trunks kicked Serina hurtled across the trees. She was kicked so hard that she couldn't force herself to stop. She hit a tree and it snapped on impact. ' Wonderful, Trunks.' She thought sarcastically, then looked behind her at the poor tree, which was scattered beyond help.  
  
'Just wonderful.'  
  
Serina sat up and rubbed her back painfully. She looked up at Trunks, who was lowering himself to the ground. He looked like a small child who knew he did something wrong.  
  
" Hey!" she yelled at him, " That really hurt! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow . . ." she said continuously as Trunks walked closer to her .  
" Serina?" he questioned as she gave him a look, " I know this is probably really going to sound dumb, but I'm really sorry."  
  
Serina breathed hard, Trunks was no easy sparring partner. He held out his hand and she took it. He pulled her to her feet. Trunks brought her close and inspected her face, turning it to the side and back again with his hand.  
  
" You ok?" he asked softly, as if she was a bomb and would explode if he did anything slowly, " You have some scrapes on your face. They don't look bad, there's not much blood or anything." She could feel his breath on her skin. The sensation was . . . rather nice. It was kind of comforting in a way. It was warm and smelled of hot pockets.  
  
Hot pockets?  
  
'Ok,' she thought, ' if I can smell what he ate before he came here, I think I'm a little too close. But . . . it smells kinda good . . . " Serina?" he asked again, and she snapped out of it.  
  
" Yeah, I'm good. Just try not to aim me at trees anymore, ok?" she asked as he laughed.  
  
" How about we call it a day?" he told her as he let her go, though she didn't move very far. She gave him a confused look.  
  
" What? That's it? Trunks, I have so much to learn!" she replied worriedly.  
  
" Don't worry about it. I have plans for you." He said coolly.  
  
" What do you mean, "plans"?" she said, cocking a perfectly arched eyebrow.  
  
" You just need a little time to work up to the status that I want you to reach."  
  
" And what exactly is that?"  
  
Trunks shrugged a little, looking to the ground for a moment.  
  
" Well, Super Saiyan of course." He exclaimed after a while.  
  
" What?!?" she screamed, falling over dramatically.  
  
" Is it really that hard to believe?" he asked her as she got back up.  
  
She brushed herself off and looked into his face intently as she replied, " You really think I could do it?"  
  
" Yes, I do. But what's more important is that *you believe you can do it."  
  
She looked away from him. How could he be so sure of her when she wasn't even sure she could do it herself? It wasn't like she hadn't tried. There had been countless times that she stood on Kami Island, powering up to her full strength. She thought of unhappy memories, of losses she had in her life, plenty of things that should've sparked *something. But it was as if there was a barrier preventing her from reaching her goal. So many times she had been close, but never close enough. It was hopeless. There was never even a slight flicker.  
  
" Trunks, it's seemingly impossible. You'd only be wasting your time, time that could be put to good use, like making yourself stronger. I am incapable of becoming a Super Saiyan." Trunks gave her a slightly disappointed frown in response.  
  
" And why not? Is there a reason, like a sickness?"  
  
" No, nothing like that." She said bluntly. He just shook his head in frustration.  
  
" Then why? Serina, I have known you for a while now, do you not trust me?"  
  
She gave him a rather surprised look. Not trust him? Had there ever been a doubt in her mind that she had faith in him? He always believed in her, and she appreciated it, but how could she show him that?  
  
" I do trust you, Trunks, more that you could possibly know." She pleaded.  
  
" Then please trust me now." He said quietly, " Why won't you tell me?  
  
His intense gaze rested on her for a long moment. He was trapping her in a corner. All those years of holding in her insecurities were finally taking its toll. Why was she, out of all her 18 years of living, falling apart now? The wall was dangerously close to breaking down. She answered him hesitantly.  
  
" I-I just, I . . ." she opened her mouth to speak, but her voice caught in her throat. She looked in his unfaltering eyes and began to shake. She realized that she couldn't find the answer.  
  
Serina, feeling much heavier with all the new pressure, sank to the ground. She felt for the first time in years the desperate need to cry. A wave of unhappy memories beat down against her as she thought of Gohan, his dead body flashed against her closed eyelids.  
  
Trunks knelt down beside her, placing a comforting hand on her back. He lifted her chin so she was looking into his eyes again. His breath caught when he saw a look he never expected to find in Serina's deep blue orbs.  
  
Extreme sorrow.  
  
Trunks didn't know what to say. Serina was normally happy, a beautiful smile could most always be seen on her face. But now . . . Trunks didn't know how to handle it. This was such a contrast to how she was just a while ago. But he had to do something, she was always there to listen to him, so he wanted to show her that he could be there for her, too.  
  
" Listen to me," he said sweetly, almost in a whispering voice, " I know you're scared. Having to dig deep inside yourself is painful. It's hard . . ." he shuddered slightly, " I know you can do it, though. It's all you need to get that push to go Super Saiyan. Emotion is the true way to get there. You're physically able to do it, and you know it. But that's not the case, is it?"  
  
Serina blinked furiously, trying desperately trying to hold back the onslaught of tears threatening to rip out at any second. She didn't speak. She couldn't. What would she say? She knew Trunks was right, but she didn't want to hear what she knew he was going to tell her.  
  
" You're afraid to let your emotions out. If you let them loose, they'll bring back all the pain of loosing Gohan. Do you remember the truth about his death?"  
  
" Stop it," she said, her voice breaking, " Please, I can't take much more of this."  
  
" You can't move on unless you embrace everything, even the bad parts of life," he continued, ignoring her request, " Gohan is apart of it, no matter what you say."  
  
They were silent for a moment. The only noise was that of the leaves rustling on the ground, the winds making them swirl in tornado like formations.  
  
" I'm just so afraid of everything falling apart again." She said at last. His eyes softened.  
  
" I know you are, and so am I. But you can't let that take away your ability to keep fighting. Not when you still have the future to hope for."  
  
" But I can't go through his loss again, not after finding out that what I thought I witnessed was a lie." She said.  
  
So she did remember.  
  
" Serina, when I look at you, I can see him. It hurts me to think of him too."  
  
Her eyes widened for a moment, looking hurt. She shook her head, looking as though her eyes were made out of glass, glossed by the unshed tears she refused to let free.  
  
" Then why do you continue to see me?" she asked in a distant, pained voice.  
  
" I don't think anything, not even those memories, could keep me away from you." He told her softly. She stared at him for a moment in disbelief. She tried desperately to gulp back the tears.  
  
" I lost him too," Trunks continued, " I know how painful it can be. There's so many things that I have regretted, but I can't do a thing about them now. We couldn't have saved him."  
  
" I could have!" Serina jumped up, suddenly bursting with emotion," I should have tried! I could've done something, damn it! I grew up thinking that it couldn't have been prevented, but now . . ."  
  
" Serina, do you know what happened?" he asked intently. She looked at him with surprise.  
  
" You haven't had any of your memories come back yet?" she asked. He shrugged.  
  
" Yes and no. I have most of them come in dreams, nightmares really. It doesn't seem real most of the time, I don't know what to believe."  
  
" Of course not, it's not what you grew up to think." She replied hastily, " Do you not remember any thing?"  
  
" Most of it, yes," he exclaimed with a frown, " some parts are fuzzy."  
  
" I guess I'm a little ahead of you then."  
  
He hesitated. Did he want to ask her about his death so soon? He couldn't take not knowing the whole truth. He gulped with apprehension.  
  
" Could you tell me?" he asked desperately. Serina looked in his face. He really wanted to know.  
  
" All right, you deserve the truth." She said quietly, " You were there with me after all . . .Gohan had just lost his arm fighting the androids a few months before, and he said that he had to go and fight them. People were dieing, he had too . . ."  
  
As Serina began her story, the memory began to filter into his head. It was as if it were a movie playing at a theatre. He could faintly hear Gohan's voice as two children fought with him stubbornly.  
  
*******  
  
The young man known as Son Gohan stood before Trunks Briefs and his sister, Serina, who were both coming up with reasons for him not to go. They stood on a cliff that overlooked the city that was being attacked. He rubbed his face with a mixture of fatigue and frustration. These two weren't going to give up.  
  
" Look, do you know how many people are in that city praying for a miracle?" he yelled impatiently, " I can do something about this, they need my help."  
  
" Then let us come with you!" Serina screamed, " You can't do this alone. You don't have much of a chance with out your arm!" Gohan looked to his left side, where his once strong-arm use to be. He touched his shoulder for a moment, still not feeling quite as confident as he use to be with his left limb.  
  
" Much of a chance is better than none at all." He countered softly.  
  
" Gohan," it was Trunks speaking this time, " Use your head! If you have both of us there, we'd be equal to your arm at least double."  
  
" Don't flatter yourself." Gohan told them sarcastically, " I can't have you there. You're easy targets. I can't have you go." He said a note of finality in his voice, " I'm wasting time, I can't stay here any longer. Don't you guys follow."  
  
The children both looked at him stubbornly, preparing themselves to take off when he did. Gohan shock his head, he really didn't want to do this. But they left him with no choice.  
  
" Ok," he said, " But as soon as things get over your heads, you leave right away."  
  
The kids looked at him with disbelief. Was he serious?  
  
" All right, Gohan!" Trunks yelled.  
  
" I knew you'd see it our way." Serina said with a laugh.  
  
" Ok guys, get ready." Gohan told them as they stepped out in front of him.  
  
" And guys?" he said, the pair turning to look at him, Gohan gave them a sad look, " I'm sorry." He said before hitting them both in puncture spots on the back of their heads, knocking them out. He placed them side-by- side, getting one last look. His eyes rested on his little sister. He bent down, brushing a lock of hair away from her sweet face.  
  
" I'll miss you Serina." He told her quietly, knowing that this was the last time he'd ever see her, " You have helped me through so much already, but who will be there to protect you?"  
  
He turned to see a protective arm around Serina. Trunks, though unconscious, was protecting one of his best friends.  
  
" You take care of her, Trunks," he said as if he could hear, " You are all she has left now."  
  
Gohan let a tear streak down his handsome face, falling to the ground with a small thud. He ruffled Trunks' hair and gave Serina a small kiss on the cheek. He had to go. He took off the cliff, looking behind him one more time before speeding up.  
  
********  
  
Gohan was being pummeled. Both androids were giving him hell, throwing him into buildings and abandoned cars. It wasn't fair . . . it was a fight two to one. Gohan didn't have a hope against winning.  
  
But he couldn't give up. He had to keep fighting, no matter what, Serina and Trunks were counting on him. If he could destroy just one. . . maybe that would be enough, the kids could handle whoever was left after this fight. He had to protect his loved ones, even if it meant that he'd die in the process. He would never stop fighting, as long as he could still do *something.  
  
The androids had cornered him in a secluded area. Gohan knew there was no hope for him anymore. He hung his head for a moment, cursing the day he lost his arm. He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking, ' Serina, Trunks. . . I failed you. I couldn't do this one last thing. I'm sorry. . .'  
  
Just as this thought left his mind, Gohan began to see something. It was only a thought, but it began to mold into a form, and somehow he knew it was possible. He saw Trunks as an older boy, no, a man, a Super Saiyan, defeating the androids with little effort. The angered faces before they were blown up were enough for Gohan. The future might be bleak, but there was hope still, a savior would come soon. ' Trunks,' he thought, ' I knew that you'd become a Super Saiyan. I knew you'd get there. And Serina, you'll be even greater than us all. Just unleash you power.' Gohan smirked. It wouldn't be fair to not let the androids know their fate. He might as well tell them.  
  
" What are you smirking at, boy?" android 17 asked with an arrogant voice. ( I really don't feel like typing out the whole of the androids names, I'd probably misspell it.)  
  
" You're going to die today, I don't see how you could be happy," android 18 said with an equal level of arrogance, " there shouldn't be anything to smirk about."  
  
" Yes," her brother replied to her notion, " With out you, we can move on and do what we want."  
  
" What are you going to do?" Gohan asked, " You have nothing but destruction and anger. Most creatures have a meaning, but you . . . you have no purpose."  
  
The androids gave him an angry glare.  
  
" What do *you know, you're practically dead." the black haired one spat, " Once we take care of you, there will be no one left to stop us."  
  
" You're wrong," Gohan said, " There will always be another to take my place. There is no end to good."  
  
" Chh, that's what you think." The blond one exclaimed as they began to fight again.  
  
However, little did Gohan know that Serina and Trunks were awake and watching his every move at this point.  
  
******  
  
" What do we do Trunks?" Serina asked in a panicked voice. She lay on the ground several hundred feet away from the fight, hiding behind some brush along with Trunks, watching as her brother was over there babbling about how there was going to someone to replace him. She didn't want a replacement, she wanted her brother! Trunks turned to her to reply.  
  
" I don't know Serina, that ass lied to us and knocked us out--"  
  
" Trunks!!!" Serina interrupted, referring to his language.  
  
"--and leaves us to go fight the two strongest thingies in the world! What was he thinking? That stupid dumb-butt-head-jerk!" he cried out. Serina rubbed the sore part of her neck, thinking somewhere on the same lines. Why would he knock her out?  
  
" Maybe if we go over there we can attack from behind." She prompted  
  
"It's the only thing we got, so let's run with it."  
  
" Ok." She said. Trunks and Serina began to crawl slowly over to the fighting area, both working out ways to help.  
  
******  
  
The androids pushed Gohan into a building roughly, then let him fall to the ground.  
  
" After all these years, we're almost free of you." Android 18 exclaimed.  
  
" You don't understand, there is no end for us . . .no end!" Gohan yelled out.  
  
" We'll see about that." Android 17 said sarcastically, and the two planned their last blow, preparing to go for it.  
  
" HEY!!!" a young voice was heard above the fighting. The androids turned to see who it was, but their faces were met by two pairs of feet. The androids skid across the debris-covered street. They looked up and saw two-children?  
  
" Ahh, what the hell?" Android 17 said, " What with the kids? Your back up cavalry?" Gohan seemed as surprised as they did.  
  
" What are you two doing here?" he screamed at them, " You have to stay alive, you're the future! Get away from here!"  
  
" No way, Gohan." Trunks yelled back as they suspended I mid air," You're in trouble, and we have to help you."  
  
" Why are you being so stubborn?" Serina supported Trunks as they got closer.  
  
Gohan stood up wobbly, preparing to fight again.  
  
" Gohan, what do you think you're doing?" Serina cried out. The older boy turned to see his sister land with Trunks as well.  
  
" I told you to go home." said Gohan hoarsely. He was injured almost to the point of collapsing. Not having an arm didn't help things, either.  
  
" You think we're going to let you do this alone?" Trunks screamed.  
  
" Leave you two. Now." Gohan gave them a stern look, " I said MOVE!"  
  
" No," said Serina, who had tears leaking out, " We're going to help you."  
  
The androids looked on with amusement.  
  
" I'd hate to break this love fest up," the dark haired one said, " But I really don't think we have the time. And I'm so tired of fighting blondy over there," he nodded his head toward Gohan, who was super-saiyan at the moment, " Aren't we sis?"  
  
" Oh yes," the blond one said coldly, " I think it's time we end this."  
  
The two androids turned to attack the children, knocking them about everywhere.  
  
" NO!!!" Gohan screamed as he charged at them. He fought with the androids for a moment, long enough for the kids to get up. They only had a couple bruises and scrapes. They weren't hurt badly, not yet at least.  
  
They threw Gohan down on the ground and prepared themselves. He had no energy left, the children weren't that far behind. This fight was over. Gohan turned to look at Trunks holding his little sister up.  
  
" Trunks," he called out, " Take care of her. I love you guys."  
  
Their eyes widened with realization, and Gohan turned to face death head on.  
  
" Bye-bye, blondy." Android 17 said harshly, and they let an onslaught of energy attacks down on him.  
  
" GOHAN!!!" Serina screamed as she tried to go to him, but Trunks held her back, remembering what Gohan said.  
  
" No, it's too late. We can't help him anymore . . .we can't . . . we can't help . . ." he said as hot tears spilled down his cheeks  
  
The last blast was sent and the androids looked at the scene with slight enjoyment.  
  
" Well," Android 17 said, " It's best we leave. I hate it when children cry."  
  
" Shouldn't we finish them off?" Android 18 asked in surprise. He just looked down at the pair holding each other.  
  
" No, I'm rather bored. Lets go." She shrugged in response and followed him towards the west, as the final words of the mighty warrior Gohan plagued their minds.  
  
Serina held tightly on to Trunks, rubbing her face into his shirt, feeling as if her heart torn to pieces. She sobbed as he tried to calm her, though he was crying just as hard.  
  
The dust began to clear and the pair turned to see. Gohan's dead body lay just a hundred feet or so away.  
  
" I want to see him." Serina said quietly, trying to walk over, but Trunks' strong grip held fast.  
  
" Let go." She told him, her voice lacking emotion.  
  
" No, it'll only make things worse." He retorted. She gave him a sorrowful look, " That is . . .don't go alone. I'll go with you."  
  
She looked at him with shock, feeling a little warmth through her body at his kindness  
  
" Thank you." She choked out. Trunks held his friends hand as they began to walk over.  
  
(I'd like to remind you that he is seven, she is six, there's nothing  
romantic about holding hands yet.)  
  
It began to rain as they made their way over to Gohan. It doused them as Trunks began to think, ' Gohan, you were everything to me. Why'd you do it? Why'd you leave us?'  
  
They stopped about a foot away from Gohan. Water had started to collect around Gohan's body, creating a puddle of slightly pink water. Serina dropped to her knees and clenched the ground.  
  
" Gohan . . ." she cried as she grabbed him into a hug. She cradled him as Trunks sat beside her.  
  
' This isn't fair . . .' she thought, ' This just isn't fair!'  
  
The pair sat like that for an hour, until trunks thought it was time to go.  
  
" Serina, we have to go back to my house. We . . . we need to get Gohan to a better place."  
  
Serina faced Trunks, deep blue eyes stricken with grief. She nodded her head in response and helped pick Gohan up. He wasn't heavy, but he was rather big in proportion to their smaller bodies. They began their long way back to Capsule Corp.  
  
******  
  
" Trunks!" Bulma, Trunks' mother called out, " What happened?" She looked at Serina, who held Gohan.  
  
" No . . .Gohan." she knelt beside Serina, placing a hand on the warriors face. She covered her mouth and let out a muffled sob. She turned to Serina and pulled her in a hug.  
  
" B-B-Bulma, make the pain go away." Serina called out as she sobbed onto her. Bulma heard a noise come from behind her. She turned to see her son trying to hold back tears. She gathered him into a hug as well and held the children in her arms as they leached onto her.  
  
" Make the pain go away." Serina exclaimed again. Bulma looked up, praying to the God above the Earth for an answer.  
  
Suddenly it came to her. Her prototype, the one she had been working on for months, the memory modifier, she could use it to reduce their pain some how. If she didn't act fast, the things the pair witnessed would crush them eventually. As if they weren't abnormal enough already, now they had witnessed a brutal murder. She had to make them forget certain things to keep them from going insane. They weren't even eight yet. There was no choice in the matter. She would change their memories to make them forget. Not to forget Gohan or how and why he died, but to help prevent physiological problems from happening. She would modify their childhoods to help them move on.  
  
" Don't worry guys, I can't make it go away, but I can help." She told them. The only problem, however . . .  
  
She looked down at the children on her lap. Being the genius that she is, she figured that after the modification they wouldn't remember each other after all the pain the endured together. Was she willing to take their friendship away?  
  
'No,' she thought, ' It won't take it away, it'll only put their memories of each other in hiding. The memory chip was only designed to last about ten years, something will spark their memories . . . they will remember.'  
  
" Come on guys, let's call Master Roshi."  
  
**************************************************************************** *******************  
  
" It's my fault," Serina sniffed as she looked Trunks in the eyes, her face scrunching in the effort not to cry," It's my fault he died . . .all my fault . . ." Trunks' brows knitted as his own eyes began to water a little. He looked at her as she tried desperately not to unleash her emotions. What could he do to help her?  
  
He did the only thing he could do. He pulled her into his arms and gave her an affectionate hug. Serina, not expecting this, sat for a moment in shock. Soon, however, she pulled her arms around his neck and began to cry.  
  
Serina cried painfully on Trunks, who in return held onto her comfortingly. He remembered everything. The day Gohan died, the promises his mother gave them, the promise to make them forget some of their pain. The modifier helped for a while, but now . . . now what were they suppose to do? True, they were much older and much more mature, but what good was it? It didn't help them now. It didn't help Serina . . .  
  
Trunks could almost feel her sobs cut through him, the pain shaking her to the very deepest parts of herself. She was keeping this to herself ever since the day they found the truth of their pasts . . .Hidden pasts. And what did she think of this?  
  
' She thinks it's her fault.' He thought as he rubbed her head, bringing her closer. It wasn't her fault at all. Gohan knew what he was doing the whole time, he knew that he was going to die.  
  
" Serina," breathed Trunks, " How can this be your fault? Not even you can control everything." He exclaimed, trying to make light of the situation. She only cried harder in response.  
  
" It doesn't mean that I couldn't have tried." Her muffled voice called out. Trunks sighed, rubbing her back in little circles.  
  
" He fought not for himself, but for you." He told her softly. She lifted her head off of his shoulder and looked at him wide eyed.  
  
" Serina, he knew that someday you'd be a great warrior. He knew you'd be greater them him, better than this. He loved you, and he still does."  
  
" It's so hard," she sniffed, " it's hard to keep it in. The pain feels like it's poisoning my body. I can't always keep it locked away."  
  
" You don't have to." He said softly, " You're forgetting one thing. You have me now, don't be afraid to let me in every once in a while, ok?" She smiled slightly at his remark.  
  
" Trunks, you mean so much to me, I can't dump all my emotions on you, it's selfish and I bet it gets extremely annoying having some girl complaining about everything--"  
  
" No, you're not understanding," he interrupted, " No matter what happens I'll be there for you. If you feel like you have too much on your shoulders, please let me be the one to take some of the burden away. I will be there to catch you when you fall, and I would do anything for you, remember that."  
  
Serina stared at him for a moment, stumbling on her words. How could she respond to something so beautiful? All she could do was envelope him into another tighter, more loving embrace.  
  
" Thank you." She choked out as he rocked her back and forth. They stayed like that for a while more, Serina enjoying the steady rhythm of Trunks' heart, feeling as if it was the only thing that was keeping her from going insane.  
  
" Trunks, I'm ok." Serina said at last, breaking their hug and standing up, " I'm ready to start again."  
  
" What?" he asked in a disbelieving voice, " I don't believe it. All right, if you want, let's go." He had a glint in his eye as he took a stance.  
  
" This time, you're going down." Serina mused He rose a brow in question and she only smirked back.  
  
" We'll have to see about that." He said, and they began their assault on each other again. **************************************************************************** ********************  
  
The next day, Serina and Trunks woke up, finding that they were still on the island. They were curled up with each other, the morning effect causing them to be a little groggy. Soon, however, their senses kicked in and they sat up with a great amount of energy.  
  
" He, he, hi Trunks." Serina said as she let go of Trunks, her cheeks burning a light crimson.  
  
" Morning." He said, his voice cracking as it usually does when he becomes nervous, " *Yawn, what time is it?"  
  
" Judging by the sun, it's about five." she replied, " We must have been up past three."  
  
" Yeah. Great first session, huh?" he asked, scratching his head.  
  
" Oh yeah, I can defiantly feel it everywhere." She responded as she rubbed her but.  
  
" I think it's from sleeping on the ground." They stayed in peaceful silence for a moment, blinking sleep away from their eyes.  
  
" I miss this." Serina said out of the blue.  
  
" Miss what? Training?" he asked. She shrugged.  
  
" That and camping out. I use to do it all the time . . .with you . . .I always wondered why camping always made me feel so safe. I guess I know why now." She said as Trunks' ears burned.  
  
" I guess . . ." she continued, " I guess that it was a way of missing you without knowing it."  
  
" I know the feeling. Remember how we use to drink out of the same bottle of Pepsi while watching movies?" he asked and she nodded, " When I did that alone, I . . .felt something, I felt that something was missing. I realize that it was you. Now your back and . . ."  
  
" . . .Everything's complete." She finished, " You're my friend, and I'm glad you're here."  
  
' Friend . . .' Trunks thought as his heart sank, ' Why does it sadden me when she refers to me as a "friend"? I'm so stupid!'  
  
" Come on," Trunks said, " We better be heading back. It's getting light, and I don't think we can pull of flying without getting noticed."  
  
" All right," she said, " I'll race you!" He smirked.  
  
" You're on." And they took off, speeding away from the island.  
  
Trunks won by a mile.  
  
This chapter isn't as long as I hoped it would be, but it's ok. I finally updated. I want to thank all the people who reviewed, especially Trisha, who reviewed like five times. You're awesome, and I wanna know if you write fics yourself. Well, I'll try to update soon. C ya! 


	7. A Showing of True Friendship

A Showing of True Friendship  
  
Over the next two months, Trunks and Serina had to juggle constant ballet rehearsals, school, both of their music practices, and training. It was becoming hard for both to concentrate on training as the cold bit them profusely. Plus, Serina had her musical debut coming up really soon, that weekend in fact. Trunks was going to it to give her the support. And Trunks' band, Death By Cookie, was offered a try out from an independent record label to record at their studio. (The name sound familiar?) They had heard good things from local clubs who paid the band money. He was aloud to bring one person to the audition. Trunks, of course, was going to invite none other than Serina. Now knowing that his feelings for Serina were real and not just some mediocre thing for some pretty girl, Trunks knew she was the only choice. How he wished he could tell her his feelings. Normally she was the one he could confide to. But he couldn't tell her this. Surly she would reject him. She was better than he was in his own mind. She was too good for him, anyways.  
  
But it wasn't as if he loved her or anything . . .  
  
He let out a small, nervous laugh at the thought. No, no he couldn't be in-  
  
" Trunks, what's so funny?" he heard Serina's voice say. They were at ballet rehearsal that had been held for several grueling hours thanks to Madame Minkaso, and Trunks and Serina were dancing the main part. The ballet was in less than three months, in the beginning of spring. The pressure was on to get the part down.  
  
" No, no, NO! The pada bore comes after the peake, not the other way around!" Madame Minkaso barked out, (My French is horrible, I seriously don't know how to spell the stuff. I don't learn ballet vocabulary in my French class. Très mal, eh?) " Come on, guys, you know I love ya, but you need to concentrate. You're missing the easy stuff! Serina, Trunks, your heads are in the clouds, so please do us all a favor and come back down to earth. And Jenny, I won't even start on you . . ." and on went Madame, who stalked over to the trembling Jenny.  
  
" How can I concentrate when everything is coming up all at once!" Serina confided in Trunks, " And you know, *him." She frowned a bit as she thought deeply.  
  
" Relax, ok, we'll pull through . . . You need a break." He added quickly, " How would you like to go to my concert? I mean, Jake is in it, he plays bass, and Jhin, he plays drums, and I play guitar, I mean it'll be great for you, and I could really use the support."  
  
" Awesome, when is it?" she asked, excitement evident in her voice.  
  
" Um, it's Saturday from eight to eleven." He told her.  
  
Suddenly, Serina's face fell and she looked to the ground.  
  
" This Saturday?" She asked, her voice cracking slightly.  
  
" Yeah, what about it?" he asked, not sure what he did wrong.  
  
" Trunks, please don't tell me you forgot already. I told you about it last week. It's the day of my concert, and I really need you there."  
  
Trunks' eyes widened in remembrance. Of course! How could he have forgotten? She was extremely nervous and had asked him to be there for her. How could he be so stupid?  
  
He looked at Serina, feeling extreme guilt creeping up in the form of a blush on his face. What now?  
  
" I'm sorry, Serina. I'm an idiot. I--I have to go to my concert thing though, it's for an audition for a recording session at a record label. Jake is depending on me. This is a big thing for my band, I have to--"  
  
" Trunks, it's ok, I know this is important to you. I-you don't have to go. It's . . . its no big deal." She said, her gaze still on the floor.  
  
" Serina . . ." he started, but was interrupted by Madame's loud voice.  
  
" Horrible practice, I expect better next time. You're dismissed." She said in a tiered voice.  
  
The people began to file out, rubbing sore muscles and necks, complaining about the practice sessions. The only two who stayed hovered by the door. Serina and Trunks.  
  
" Serina, I am so sorry, I really am." He apologized again. She looked at him for the first time in minutes, her eyes glossing over.  
  
" No, it's all right Trunks. You-you have more important things to do. I can't be selfish." She said, her voice wavering, " This is important to you, I can't make you feel guilty. It's just that . . . I wanted someone to be there, but I can handle it."  
  
" Serina, I can try to make it, I might be a little late, but--"  
  
" No, don't worry about it. I'll come to the beginning of your audition. My concert starts about an hour after yours. I know how important this is for you; I won't ruin your good mood. Good-good luck." She replied as she choked back a sob. She waved to him and walked away. She couldn't say good- bye. If she did, she might have started to cry. She was about to cry over something as stupid as Trunks not being able to make it to her concert?!?! 'I'm so stupid; I can't believe how weak I am! It's just . . . a stupid concert.' She thought sadly as she ran up the stairs, putting as much distance as possible from herself and Trunks.  
  
Meanwhile, Trunks stood where Serina had left him. How could he be so stupid? She was depending on him to be there. And now. . . " I'm an idiot!" He screamed out, his voice booming off of the walls. People stopped to stare at him for a moment. He just sighed and walked away. Self-loathing was written all over his face as he made his way to his dorm. Serina probably wouldn't want to see him at the moment. He walked up the stairs, feeling much more miserable than before.  
  
**************************************************************************** **********************  
  
The next night, the night of the concerts, Serina was driving Trunks to his audition. He tried to say he could get there on his own, but Serina heard no word of it.  
  
" It's your first real audition!" she had told him, putting on a fake smile that Trunks saw right through, " I have to do this. I want to help."  
  
The pair walked in, Trunks shaking slightly from the nervousness. Serina grabbed his tremulous hand and looked up at him.  
  
" You'll do fine." She said simply, " I have faith in you."  
  
Trunks felt disgusted with himself. Here Serina was, comforting him when *he needed her. He wouldn't be there for her when she needed consoling.  
  
" Serina, I want to skip this. I want to go to your concert." He said softly. She just shook her head.  
  
" We have been over this a hundred times already. This is much more important. If it wasn't for the fact that this is going to be the biggest grade yet, I would skip it." She told him. He let out a sigh. Why was she so nice to him? If she slapped him for being a jerk, stick a pick ax up his nose, something violent . . . that would make him feel much better. He deserved it. But instead of discussing this further, he changed the subject.  
  
" You nervous?" He asked. She shrugged a bit.  
  
" Maybe a little." She said, putting on her façade. Truth be told: she was terrified. But if she told him that, he'd feel guilty. That was the last thing she wanted.  
  
" Yeah, me too." He told her honestly.  
  
" Just remember what you told me the night of the try outs. You have nothing to fear." She brushed his cheek in a friendly manner. His face turned red all the same.  
  
" Thanks." He said meekly.  
  
A judge called their band up and Trunks walked on stage. Three judges were right in front of him. He gulped. He put his guitar on and played some cords. It sounded in tune.  
  
" Ready when you are." He told the judges. He gave one last glance at Serina, who put up the "V" sign for victory. He looked behind him at Jake and Jhin, giving a single nod. They returned it solemnly. Trunks took in a shaky breath and began to sing.  
  
Serina's eyes widened. She had never heard Trunks' voice before, nor his band. He didn't want her seeing them until they performed at better clubs. Hardly anyone at OSU had heard of them. She stared at him wide eyed. She had no idea that he would be this good. The music was well written, and his voice . . . it was like stepping into the warmth after being locked away from the sun for fifty years. She closed her eyes as she let the sound wash over her, taking with it her worries about the rest of the night.  
  
The feeling soon left after the song finished. She had to leave. She mouthed " see you later" at Trunks, whose face dropped a little. He nodded sadly in agreement. She waved a little before walking out the door, leaving Trunks to finish the rest of the concert alone. Jake and Jhin exchanged glances. They knew that Trunks was making a mistake, so why didn't he?  
  
*********  
  
Serina looked down at the beautiful long dress that she had on. There were sparkles on black cloth, creating a look of a starry night. The dress reached to the floor, slitting half way up her right leg, showing off her toned limb. It was a strappy styled one that was a little low cut in comparison to what she would normally ware. She sighed lightly; knowing that the one person she was counting on to be there couldn't make it. He was doing something important . . . more important than she was.  
  
" Stop thinking that," she muttered darkly to herself, " you should be happy for him. It's a chance of a lifetime. He won't get things like this handed to him all the time."  
  
But still . . .  
  
Was it wrong of her to want to be selfish? She wanted Trunks there with her, she wanted to share this moment with her best friend. But she couldn't always have everything. She should have known that by now, she did grow up during the android time period, after all.  
  
Serina got up from where she was sitting. She played with her necklace for a moment as she walked over to her violin in the warm up area at the Yumi Music Theater. She would have to warm up the band soon. She suppressed a shudder as she looked out of the window.  
  
" Trunks, I wish you were here. You would say something stupid to help cheer me up."  
  
She pressed her head against the cold window, taking in a slow and deep breath. She closed her eyes and tried to block out her troubles.  
  
A knock on the door brought her back to reality.  
  
" Miss Son, the show is due to start soon." A young usher said as he popped his head in, " It's about time you warm up the students."  
  
" I think you're right," she exclaimed, grabbing her violin and bow and set for the door, " let's show them what we have."  
  
********  
  
Trunks finished the fifth song half-heartedly. They were doing surprisingly well, the judges seemed really into it. They didn't mess up once, well save for when Jake slipped while he was jumping around. Jhin began to laugh but soon stopped his snorting after receiving death glares from both Trunks and Jake. The odds of getting this record deal were rather high still, but . . .  
  
Trunks looked around the room, at the faces of the judges, at his fellow band mates, they were all smiling. Why wasn't he smiling? He shook his head.  
  
Why didn't he feel better?  
  
' Maybe because you are a total ass.' He thought darkly. He considered the subject more deeply as the judges looked up from righting things down.  
  
" Ok, great so far," the middle judge said to the band, " We just need to hear a few more songs to see if Death By Cookie is album worthy. Could I ask what the next song is?" Trunks snapped out of his thinking trance. The judge raised an eyebrow.  
  
" Mr. Briefs?" he asked, " Are you . . . feeling ok?"  
  
Was he? He was trusted by Serina to go to this concert, totally forgetting about it when he was offered this-this record deal, and now he was here, when Serina needed him most. What kind of friend was he?! Was this audition more important to him than Serina? He closed his eyes. All the effort of trying to find places for his band to play at, trying to get a recording place interested enough in them to sponsor for their expenses. All the hard practice put into getting them to sound great. . .was all that for nothing?  
  
" *Cough, uh, Mister Briefs?" he questioned again. Trunks stared at him for a moment.  
  
" Am I all right?" asked Trunks and the judge nodded. Trunks gave a small smile before answering.  
  
" Never better."  
  
Trunks set down his guitar and ran for the door. He had made up his mind: Serina was far more important to him than some record deal.  
  
" Mr. Briefs, where do you think you're going?" the judge called. The two other band mates had their jaws on the floor. What was he doing?!  
  
" Yeah Trunks, I think we all have the right to know." Jake said as well. Trunks stopped at the door, his back still facing them.  
  
" I am really sorry. I know this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, but . . ." Trunks paused for a moment, tuning to face the group, " I just realized I have somewhere else to be. It's more important to me than anything else."  
  
Everyone stared at him for a long moment before Jake got down off the stage, along with Jhin.  
  
" Serina's concert right?" asked Jake as Trunks shook his head, " I'm surprised you're not there already. You're such an ass for letting her go like that. Get going to that, or else I'm going to give you hell. She needs you more than we do, right Jhin?"  
  
" Yeah, don't be a bastard," Jhin continued, " So hurry up. We'll come after we straiten up things here."  
  
Trunks stood there, his mouth open, unsure of what to say. His friends weren't mad at him for ditching out; they even gave him a form of their blessing. He smiled broadly as he slapped Jake's shoulder.  
  
" Thanks guys," Trunks said, and then turned to the judges, " I'm sorry to have wasted your time."  
  
To Trunks' surprise, the judge was wiping tears away from his eyes.  
  
" Don't be sorry," he sniffed, " That was beautiful. I haven't seen a harmonious group like this in al long while. You start recording next Saturday." He broke out into sobs ranting, " Such loyalty to your female friend! That's so sweet."  
  
The three stood there watching the sensitive judge with amazement, before Jake started screaming for joy, Jhin following soon after. Trunks, however, couldn't celebrate. He had a concert to go to.  
  
*********  
  
" Ok everyone," Serina started, " I have had the great pleasure of working with you for the last two months. Some of you were a little difficult to deal with--" she eyed a few students who giggled I response, " I even put up with being called Miss S. But I still love you guys. You all have worked so hard, and I'm proud of everyone."  
  
" Aww, come on, Miss Son!" one of the students called, " You're gonna make me cry!"  
  
" Shut up Nikatori, I'm trying to be sentimental here!" she told him and she rolled her eyes, " Now I know how hard you've worked over the last few weeks, and I appreciate it. And I'll miss all of you, and yes, Nikatori too."  
  
The junior fell over in mock shock, his curly black hair shaking vibrantly. He stood up squealed lightly and began to scream, " OH, I LOVE YOU TOO, SERINA!"  
  
" How many times do I have to tell you its MISS SON!" Serina screamed loudly as the boy began to quiver from under her, which was a humorous sight since he was at least two feet taller than she was.  
  
" Did I tell you that you look really hot tonight, Miss S?" he tried with a light laugh. She blushed slightly, and muttered a thank you.  
  
" I think you better stick with people your own age." She said. He shrugged.  
  
" You're only two years older than I am. What's the big deal?" he asked. She only shook her head.  
  
" As I was saying, first we have to play that Gustav Holst piece, I really hope you all practiced that one. It's hard music, but you're in high school, you have to try. We only had a week to rehearse it, and yes, we had problems, but I expect more out of you, you have so much to show them. Remember how it's changed from the first movement to the second, the transition is more subtle. Please remember that. Your band instructor will take over after that song--"  
  
" Wait, you're conducting?" a girl, Merri, said amongst the crowd. Serina gave them a coy smile.  
  
" Surprise? Your teacher, Mr. Sankins, thought it would be a good idea, a good experience. He shocked me too. I have to conduct the first piece, and play with you the last. I just hope you all watch me."  
  
" The last piece, it's the one you wrote, right?" another student asked.  
  
" Mr. Sankins thought it would be a good thing to wrap up the concert with, like a finally. It'd be easier for my professor to grade it that way. Remember that I have a two measure solo in the beginning."  
  
" Yep!" everyone called out. Serina turned away from the group, wringing her hands as she looked out at the audience from behind the curtain. It was kind of packed. She let out a breath she was holding in, trying to control the nervous stabbing pain at her side. Oh, how she wished Trunks was here! He normally would give her comforting words at a moment like this. But he wasn't. He wouldn't be here at all. She knew it was no use wishing for things that she knew would never happen. She had found that out so many years ago. She had to depend on herself; she had for the last 18 years. Besides, she had an obligation to her students; she would not let them down.  
  
" Miss Son?" another usher asked, " Mr. Sankins wishes that you take the stage now. You know the drill." Serina gave a swift nod and faced the students again.  
  
" Ok, I want you guys to file out the right door onto the stage," Serina began in a rushed, low voice, " then you find your seats, but you don't sit down. You wait until after I get on the stage and to the podium where I conduct. I'll warm you up and then we play. Got it?"  
  
Everyone shook their heads in comprehension. All except for Nikatori, who rolled his eyes.  
  
" We've only been over this a million times, Miss S." he complained. Serina just shook her head.  
  
" It doesn't hurt to remind you." She countered, " You all ready?"  
  
" Yes." They all chorused. Serina gave a supporting smile.  
  
" Then let's do this." She cried and everyone cheered, " Get the hell out there!"  
  
The students all filed out of the warm up room excitedly as they began to walk on stage. They were met with cheers from parents and friends from the audience. The whole room shook as they clapped and yelled encouragingly.  
  
Serina double-checked that the lighting guys knew what they were doing and she soon followed the students. She, too, had people cheering for her. Her heart swelled with appreciation as she approached the podium. She told the first chair clarinetist to hold out a C and the whole band began to tune off of the note. Soon they were ready to perform.  
  
" Ok guys," she whispered so only they could hear, " Just do what you can and you'll make me proud. Just watch me."  
  
Serina stepped onto the podium and everyone snapped their instruments to attention position. She lifted her baton and the band switched to playing position. Serina smiled a broad smile. They were going to do all right. She felt better that she had felt in hours.  
  
********  
  
Trunks ran to the theatre doors and pushed them open, sending them flying almost off their hinges. He ran down the hall desperately trying to find the auditorium that Serina was in. He kept running until he saw two ushers standing in front of a set of doors. He let out a breath and stopped in front of them.  
  
" Is this the room where Orange Star High School is playing?" he asked, trying to control his breath from flying so fast.  
  
" Yeah." The usher to the left said.  
  
" Ok, awesome. Here's my ticket." He said in relief as he tried to hand in to them. The pair just stood there staring at Trunks.  
  
" What?" he asked. The usher to the right rolled his eyes.  
  
" It's too late to get in. I'm sorry, you'll have to leave." He said to Trunks.  
  
" You've gotta be kidding me," exclaimed Trunks, " Can't you just let me in?"  
  
" Nope, it's company policy." The left one said, and the right one snorted.  
  
" Yeah, company policy." The right one replied.  
  
" Look," Trunks pleaded, pointing at the door, " My friend, she's in there and I have to get in right now. I want to see her perform so please, I ask you to just take my ticket and let me in."  
  
The ushers stood there for a moment, looking as thought they were thinking it over.  
  
" Gimmie twenty bucks and I'll let you in." the left one said.  
  
" WHAT?" Trunks yelled and fell over anime style.  
  
" Yeah, me too." The right one said.  
  
" Are you crazy? I'm not paying you forty bucks just to walk through those doors! I just won't do it." Trunks cried out.  
  
" Oh, then I suggest you keep walking then, Sparky." The left one said, and the right one sniggered.  
  
" Hee, Sparky . . ." the right usher scoffed.  
  
" Would you stop?" the left one asked the right one.  
  
" Stop what?" the right one countered.  
  
" Mimicking me!" leftie exclaimed as he took a step toward the right one.  
  
" I'm not mimicking you!" rightie yelled in his face.  
  
" Are too!"  
  
" Are not!"  
  
" Are too!"  
  
" Are not!"  
  
" Too!"  
  
" Not!"  
  
The pair continued to argue feverishly, noses pressing together as they yelled louder and louder. Trunks combed his hands through his hair and ran them over his face in frustration. He didn't even have forty dollars! What was he going to do?  
  
" You gotta be kidding me, you always say what I say right after I say it!" the right one screamed.  
  
" Well, maybe I was going to say it before you said it, but then you say it then I say it right after you say it."  
  
" You are such a LIAR!!!"  
  
Trunks had enough. He walked over to the still arguing pair and pushed them against the wall.  
  
" SHUT UP!!!" screamed Trunks, and the two ushers coward from under him.  
  
" Look, I want in that room, and I want in it NOW! I have very little self-control when I'm angry, and believe me, it's no problem for me to rip out your stomachs and show them to you before you die. So LET ME IN!" he bellowed. They gladly leapt to the side and opened the door.  
  
" Thank you." Trunks said, his voice more calm, but it hadn't lost its edge quite yet, " Oh yeah, here." And he gave the ticket to the left usher and walked in. The ushers stared in disbelieve at the ticket, than at Trunks' retreating back.  
  
To Trunks' disappointment, Serina's concert had already started. Trunks looked for a place to sit down, but he couldn't find one close enough. So he decided to stand up. He leaned against a pillar that was close to the front and looked up at the stage. Serina was conducting gracefully, the students watching her every move. The piece sounded Irish, it moved fast and it was complicated. But the kids seemed on top of it.  
  
There was a break in going into the next part of the piece, movement number four. It had a sort of Irish jig sound to it. Trunks closed his eyes as he let the music seep through him. It made him relax as he breathed in the colorful sounds of the majestic melody. He opened his eyes again and became entranced by Serina's elegant movements. She seemed so happy up there . . .  
  
*********  
  
Serina did the cut off and smiled brilliantly as she pointed at those who had solos to stand up. The claps were deafeningly loud. She faced the crowd and gave a slight bow. She felt at ease all of a sudden. Mr. Sankins stood up and met Serina mid-stage, shaking her hand with a sort of pride that he had gained from working with her over the last couple months. She gave one last bow before clambering off the stage. She smiled brightly as she made her way out of the auditorium towards the warm up room, people congratulating her along the way. She let out a sigh, happy to have the first part of the concert over with.  
However, the night wasn't over yet. She had her piece left. But for some reason she knew they'd do all right. She left the room and made her way down the hall.  
  
In all this time, Serina was too exited to realize that Trunks' power level was there and that he was rendered speechless by the amazing performance.  
  
**********  
  
The rest of the concert ran rather smoothly. Serina smiled proudly while waiting back stage as Mr. Sankins cut off and faced the crowd. He bowed once and went for the mike.  
  
" Before you all leave," he began as people got up from their seats, " we have a little surprise for you all tonight. Miss Son, will you come back up now?"  
  
As Serina made her way back onto the stage, cheers came rocketing out at her. She wasn't use to such attention! Her cheeks burned brightly. She waved an awkward hand out at the audience and held her violin close.  
  
" Miss Son will be performing a solo along with Nikatori, who plays saxophone but also the Irish pin whistle. He will be playing the whistle with her as a sort of Irish piece. This piece is entitled " Rebels Heart." (It's a song by the Corrs; I wanted to have something you guys could have to put in as the music part of this. I don't really like the Corrs, but I have a soft spot for Irish music. I heard it on my Dad's cd. I like the Cranberries though! U2 rocks too, . . . oh never mind. I do not own it or anything so don't sue me.)  
  
Serina faced the band for a moment, mouthing " follow me" and tapped her fingers together to show how fast the tempo was going to be. Nikatori joined her side and gave her a friendly wink. She then did a bout face and placed the violin under her chin. She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath, posing her bow, preparing to strike.  
  
The percussion started, creating an introduction for Serina as she began her solo. The audience watched intently at her, but no one watched her more closely then Trunks. She never had the time to show off her skills as a musician, and she wasn't one to boast. Trunks never would have believed how good she was until he heard her for himself. He let out the breath he was holding in and became mesmerized by her fluid movement. As she came to the melody, the other soloist, Nikatori joined her. The whole thing was beautiful. Silent shivers went down Trunks' back as the music penetrated his every thought. Serina was gifted in many things, but this took the cake.(mmmm.cake.) She had the power to create art and bring it onto the stage. How he wished he could've been there for her from the beginning.  
  
**********  
  
Serina frowned slightly in concentration as she pulled her bow across the strings of the violin. Something had made her relax suddenly, and she didn't know what helped. The nervousness seemed to melt away after the beginning of the first piece. Was it the fact that the audience was so warm? It defiantly was weird.  
  
She thought of Trunks and wished desperately that he could see her now, see how proud she was. She had thought that since he couldn't come, she wouldn't be able to do the concert full-heartedly. He had said he believed in her, and for some things that was enough just to hear him say that, though other parts of her needed him there, just so she could feel his encouragement as she played on the stage. But he wasn't coming. However, there was something that bothered her still . . .something was in the back of her mind. She noticed something a long time ago, but hadn't placed a finger on the subject, feeling as though there was something there for her to see, to feel.  
  
Then Serina felt it . . . a power level. It was very familiar, but he couldn't possibly . . .  
  
She began to scan the audience frantically. People were everywhere, it was hard to pick out the one when it was being clouded by so many others. She searched over to where the power level was strongest, trying not to get too exited in case her imagination was playing tricks on her.  
  
Her breath caught in her throat. Tears began to fill in her dark blue eyes as she saw Trunks leaning on a pole. They made eye contact, and a slow smile crept along his face. She allowed a lone tear grace her face as she gave him a small smile back.  
  
Serina's stare became more evident from the crowd. What was this young lady looking so intensely at? People twisted in their seats to follow her gaze, only to discover that she was looking at someone, a lavender haired man who stared at her with equal depth. She felt a new wave of emotion as she played her violin more passionately. He was there for her after all. He was the sweetest man alive . . .  
  
People returned their gaze to the performance as the music did a crescendo, and most everyone was at the edge of their seats. Serina seemed to glow.  
  
Serina finished with a final caress of her bow. She was nearly knocked to the ground by the roars of applauds that seemed to bounce off the walls. People stood up everywhere, clapping hard. She smiled brightly as she was handed a microphone.  
  
" Mr. Nikatori Aiosha on Irish penne whistle." She exclaimed as she pointed at him. He gave her a quick smile and bowed. She then turned and extended her hand to the band, which were already standing, and gave a little bow of her own.  
  
The clapping could still be heard as the band students filed out of the auditorium and in the main entrance. They all surrounded Serina as they began to talk at once.  
  
" You guys were amazing!" screamed Serina, who was flushed with pride, " You really pulled it off, I couldn't be more proud of how the performance went. You've made me so happy I could just . . ."  
  
Serina did sort of a jig to release some of the built up energy she had pent up inside of her. The band cheered loudly as she finished.  
  
" Now, you come and visit us every once in a while, kay, Miss S?" Nikatori said brilliantly. Serina gave a small laugh.  
  
" You got it." She replied, " I'll come by at least once a month, just so--"  
  
" Eh-hem." Someone interrupted. Serina turned around to see Trunks standing there, hands in his pockets, a slight smirk gracing his face.  
  
" Hey." He exclaimed and a bunch of kids began to giggle.  
  
" Ok, that's enough." She said to the students, " Go get some snacks at the snack table, you've all earned it."  
  
A bunch of moans came out in response, knowing that she wanted some "alone" time with her friend.  
  
" Trunks, you said you weren't coming." Serina said with slight smile. He only shrugged.  
  
" I lied." Was the response he gave her. She let out a small chuckle and ran to give him a huge hug. He jumped back a little but held on to her fast. She pulled him close, feeling happier than even seeing him out in the audience.  
  
" You're not at your audition." She commented.  
  
" You've noticed." He replied.  
  
" Did you finish your try out then?"  
  
" No," he said hesitantly, " not exactly."  
  
" What happened then?" she asked excitedly.  
  
" We got the deal, but I had to leave. I realized I had forgotten something."  
  
" Well, why'd you come here?" she asked him. He pulled her away from him for a second, only to look at her full faced.  
  
" When I was at rehearsal, I couldn't concentrate. Thoughts of you being here all alone--"  
  
" I wasn't alone," she interrupted, " I did have all my students." Trunks shrugged a bit.  
  
" Well, if you needed me half as much as I need you, you would've felt like the whole world abandoned you." He exclaimed with a faint smile.  
  
Serina was speechless for a good moment. She felt her cheeks warm as she gave him a true smile.  
  
" Trunks . . ." she tried to respond, but only went for another hug. He placed her head under his chin and hugged her back.  
  
" I won't ever try to abandon you like I did tonight, never again. You should've invited someone else." He said wit mild self-abhorrence. She shook her head in protest.  
  
" You never abandoned me," she whispered, " You wanted to do something for yourself for once, and I mine, but I knew deep down you were with me the whole time. You might not know this, but when I look at you . . . I see so much. You have a pure heart. You don't think of yourself when others are involved. Tonight you thought of me. And don't you ever believe that you can be replaced. You care so much; not too many people do, and I need you to be here. You're my best friend, and don't let anything tell you otherwise."  
  
Trunks stared at her incredulously. She looked so deeply into him, further than even he himself had gone. How could she see things that he couldn't see himself? After Gohan died, he felt that his heart had blackness. Sure, he loved his mother and friends, but there was one place in himself that only Gohan could fill. For thirteen years he carried the heaviness of that black depth, not really caring if it would ever fill again. He eventually moved on, met other people and nothing changed. Then something unexpected happened, something . . . wonderful.  
  
Serina happened.  
  
All the sadness and lonely moments in his life melted away whenever he was with her. Just talking with her seemed to calm him. It was almost as if Gohan was back . . . only in the form of a woman, lighter hair . . . and kinda attractive.  
  
Why did his male side always kick in when he was trying to have a sweet moment? Sometimes being a Saiyan sucked, especially when it propels you to look at your best friend in a way that you probably shouldn't. He smiled and shook off the thought.  
  
" Thanks," he replied after a moment, " I could say the same things about you, ya know? You help me out a lot."  
  
" Shut up, you help me way more. For example, you're here while you could be doing that eighteen page microbiology paper due Monday."  
" Damn it! It is?" he asked in surprise, " How do you know about that? You're not even in my class!"  
  
" Someone's gotta keep an eye on you. You never do your homework, you procrastinator." She said as she pulled away from him.  
  
" How about we go eat something?" asked Trunks. She raised a brow.  
  
" After all that about the paper? Don't you think you should go and finish it?" she inquired.  
  
" That's what Sunday is for!" He exclaimed loudly, draping his jacket over her shoulders, " You're such a slave driver. Come on. Live a little."  
She let out a small, ringing laugh as she grabbed her violin case.  
  
" Alright, let's go. I am kinda hungr--"  
  
" Miss S, you didn't tell me you had a boyfriend!" Nikatori's annoying voice went over the clamor. Silence rang throughout the hall as they looked at Serina and Trunks. A faint blush crept along Serina's face as she tried to explain the situation.  
  
" I don't have a, a boyfriend. This is Trunks, a friend of mine. He came to watch you guys."  
  
" I thought what we had was special, Miss S, but I was wrong." Nikatori wailed. Serina rolled her eyes and walked over to the distraught boy.  
  
" Ah, shut up, I'm not in any relationship. However, I can't date you anyways. One, you're too young, two, you're not the type of guy I would go after."  
  
" What type of guy's do you date?" he asked. She put on a thoughtful face.  
  
" Guys out of high school, so sorry you're out of luck. See ya guys later." She said to the whole group. She walked back to Trunks who was smirking. She let out a sigh. Serina looked over to see Jake and Jhin making their way over to them.  
" Hey guys," she exclaimed, giving them both a quick hug, " I'm glad you could make it."  
  
" Serina, that was a great concert." Jake exclaimed, sniffing slightly, " When I saw you up there, I started to cry. You made me . . .SO proud!" he cried out.  
  
" Thanks." She replied modestly, " Come on, were going out to celebrate. You with your recording thing and me with my hopefully good grade." They all linked arms and started off. They could still hear Nikatori screaming, " I LOVE YOU, MISS S! DON'T FORGET ME!" Trunks held back a snort and Serina shook her head.  
  
" Why do you look so distressed?" Jhin commented.  
  
" Ask Trunks." she told them as they stepped outside. He shrugged a bit, trying to hold back the laughter inside of him.  
  
" It's nothing, guys, " he told her, " it's just that Serina never told me she had an admirer."  
  
" I knew it, you're never gonna let me live this down." She moaned as they made it to her car, " How did I know you were going to do this?"  
  
" Do what?" he asked with an innocent smile. She glanced over at him and let out another sigh. The group hopped into the car as she let out a low growl.  
  
" Never mind, let's go." and she turned on the ignition and sped off, glancing back at the theatre and smiled to herself. ' Tonight wasn't so bad after all.'  
  
**************************************************************************** *****************************  
  
Wow, that was a weird chapter. I don't know where that came from. I kinda like that scenario though. I am so tiered, too. I think I got the idea when I got my first solo (yay!) for band. I was sooooo psyched, I was screaming down the hall. The piece was even by one of my favorite composers, Gustav Holst. It's called Second Suite in F, and it has the coolest clarinet solo in it. I suggest you look it up! Well, anyways I wanted to get this chapter up soon though, so it's not as good. But expect a better chapter next update. As always, thanks to you who reviewed. I appreciate it. If you have any questions/suggestions, you know what to do, e-mail me. 'Till next time. 


	8. The Dream

Yep, I have this thing updated. Yay! I really wanna get this fic rolling, I'm just not motivated enough. (. Well, to those who read this, enjoy.  
  
The Dream  
  
The death seemed to surround her. It was so thick she could smell it. It made her sick to her stomach. A seventeen-year old Serina looked around, shaking feverishly, trying to figure out where she was. All she could remember was an explosion. She couldn't stop shivering. People lay motionless in puddles of their own blood. Serina covered her eyes in horror. What had happened? A darkness that she could not speak of over came her and she fell to the ground in frustration.  
  
"Why?" she asked herself quietly, "why couldn't I have been here for these people . . ." she made a quick glance to a child lying near her, her blond hair disheveled and her face distorted in a silent cry. Tears were still on her face, as if she was still alive. She couldn't have been more then five.  
  
Serina screamed out, the pain in her chest grew. She brushed the tears off the small child, only to get blood on her own hands. Serina balled her bloody fist and hit the ground, sending little cracks for a good half a mile.  
  
"Damn them," she spat out, "This is too much, she was only a child . . .how much more of this can I take?"  
  
"If you wish to survive, I suggest you stop displaying so much pathetic emotion." A cold voice said from behind her. Her eyes widened in realization. Serina turned to see a boy with black hair, and a girl who looked almost identical with the other, save that she had blond locks. Serina felt her heart stop; she couldn't breath, she couldn't even think.  
  
"Oh, look, she's scared." The blond one exclaimed as she leaned on a broken lamppost. Serina looked on and said nothing. She was paralyzed in fear.  
  
"Weren't you just "damning" us?" Serina continued to stare, not daring to speak.  
  
"Hey, are you even listening?" the blond one said in annoyance, " How rude, just like the little girl we killed, the blond one. She kept saying that "people have hope, and hope will make things better" or something. It didn't do too much for her, now did it? She was an idiot, just like all humans. Hope is nothing but for the weak who have the stupidity to uphold it."  
  
At these words, Serina looked up at the androids, or the "evil duo" as the people who suffered under their oppression called them. Her fear was suddenly replaced by anger. Her hands itched with the want to make contact with their bodies.  
  
"Why do you not speak?" the black haired one asked, "Perhaps you are too afraid to end up like your friend?"  
  
Serina's eyes flashed dangerously at that remark.  
  
"I do not speak because I do not have anything to say to you," she said bitterly, "I don't like to converse with those who kill so willingly."  
  
"Oh, so she can speak." The blond one jeered, "What else can she do? Judging by her appearance, not much. But she does look familiar, is she related to someone that we've killed off?" she asked her brother. He shrugged.  
  
"Eighteen, you know as well as I do that I've lost count of the people we've killed, what makes you think I'd remember what they looked like?"  
  
"Eh, no matter. He was probably some dumb ass in my way." She replied.  
  
Serina soon found her feet. Anger was throbbing in every muscle; her blood pounded threw her ears. She jumped into the air and lunged for Eighteen's neck and gripped tightly.  
  
"What? You can't remember the one man who came close to defeating you?" Serina screamed out, choking her violently, and surprisingly Eighteen couldn't do anything as she wheezed painfully, "You can't remember my brother, Gohan? Well here's a reminder for you!" and Serina punched her in the face, sending her flying into a nearby building. Eighteen's eyes widened in shock. She took her hand and felt her face. Her lip bled profusely. She scowled.  
  
"You bitch!" she screamed, "Look what you did! Oh, you're in for it now. Seventeen get over here!"  
  
Seventeen followed her order with an amused expression.  
  
"Seems we've got a feisty one here." He said with a smirk imprinted on his face, "So, what should we do with her?"  
  
"What else? Kill her you idiot!" she screamed. He cracked his knuckles.  
  
"What ever you say, dear sister." And they were off like a cannon after Serina. All she could do was watch as they came. Serina stood in a battle stance. She would not let them kill her without a fight.  
  
The evil duo slammed into her, snapping a rib or two, and Serina let out a pained filled scream She stumbled around like a wounded animal for a moment before regaining her composure. But they attacked her again. It felt as if they were hitting every inch of her body. Serina's blocking seemed hopeless to the god-like speed of her challengers. But she tried anyway. She couldn't fail that girl; she couldn't fail her brother.  
  
However, Serina was getting weaker. She used a lot of energy when she was trying to kill Eighteen. That happened a lot with her. She would blank out when she was upset, and the next thing she knew, she would power up to a much higher level of power. But it would leave as soon as it came, and it left her a little drained.  
  
This situation was no different.  
  
"What now?" Eighteen laughed as they stopped beating her for a moment, "Where's all that anger?" Serina spat out some blood, which conveniently landed on Eighteen's shirt. Serina would have laughed at her if it weren't such a dire circumstance. Eighteen looked at her shirt in horror.  
"Kill me if you like . . . but that won't solve your problem. I know there's someone who will defeat you. If not me, then someone else will. You are only machines, incapable of knowing any greater purpose then to kill. You can only last for so long." Serina smirked. 'That'll give them something to think about.'  
  
This time it was Seventeen's turn to scowl.  
  
"How about we shut her up forever? I'm sick of her ramblings." He exclaimed.  
  
"I couldn't agree with you more." His sister replied. They pummeled their fists into her once more, the crunching of her already broken bones satisfying their lust to kill. Soon, however, they grew tiered of this and decided to finish her off.  
  
They threw Serina into a building and began to fire off what seemed to be millions of energy attacks. All Serina could do was let it happen. Her body screamed with agony. She couldn't move anything, and to top it off her arm was bent the wrong way.  
  
And despite of what she had said to the androids about having someone more powerful than she was step up to the plate, she felt disgraced that she couldn't have held up against them any longer then five minutes. Tears of shame streaked down her face as she made an oath to herself.  
  
"I won't ever let myself be beaten like this, I won't be so thick again. I will be prepared." She whispered to herself to help heal her humiliation.  
  
But that was only if she survived this ordeal. Oh, how foolish she was! But next time . . . next time she would be ready. She would not fail again.  
  
But despite that notion, she began to close her eyes and loose her battle with the darkness. She knew that she was going to die. However, something held her back, and she had begun to see something. It was as if it was a memory . . . but it couldn't have been, she had no recollection of it at all. An image of a boy showed against her closed lids, his innocent face seemed familiar, and then suddenly the boy changed into a man. He called out to her. He had lavender hair and intense blue gaze, but his face was obscured by some kind of fog.  
  
"Don't give up yet, not when you have so much to live for." He told her softly, his voice washing over her like warm water, calming her frenzied mind.  
  
"Who are you?" she asked weakly. She could make out that the man was smirking. He seemed recognizable.  
  
"You'll find out soon. As of now, I am just a memory. Now don't you give up, not when the world still needs a hero. Promise me that you won't let go just yet."  
  
Serina looked on in amazement, and then muttered, "I don't know what strength is in me still, but I'll try, ok? I can promise you that much. Now will you tell me who you are?"  
  
"I know you well, I've been in the back of your mind for twelve years waiting for you to remember."  
  
Serina gave a bemused look. What the hell was he saying?  
  
". . .Remember what?" she asked at last. He let out a little laugh at the remark. His voice was sweet, not taunting, and Serina found herself smiling. His laugh was beautiful.  
  
" I can't tell you *everything, now can I?" he exclaimed lightly, "All you need to know is that you lost something a long time ago. If you don't forget everything, you can get it back . . . get me back . . ."  
  
"Huh?" she questioned stupidly, but before she could say anything more, she felt herself being pulled back. The man's face disappeared and Serina fell into the shadows.  
  
**************************************************************************** *****************************  
  
"AHHHH!!!!" Serina screamed out, waking with a start. Doused with sweat, she grabbed her arm and inspected it thoroughly. What the hell was that? A dream? She could faintly see the scare where her bone popped out. The doctors thought that her arm was broken beyond fixing. Amputation was definitely what they were going to do. Luckily, Roshi broke her out and got her a sensu bean.  
  
"That's right," she thought aloud, "that happened only about a year ago. God, what a nightmare. . ." she wiped her forehead, "I've been dreaming a lot lately, but this one's different. I couldn't remember much from that day at all. And that guy . . . was that Trunks?"  
  
Serina shook her head, trying to shake off the confusion. That dream meant something. . . something that had been plaguing her for a while now. But what was it? Was it the promise she made to the man? Why couldn't she remember what he said to her earlier? She wouldn't forget that easily. It had to be some form of Trunks. Who else would it be? But what was the dream trying to tell me? Was it just some memory? Or was reminding her of the oath she had made to herself?  
  
"'I won't ever let myself be beaten like this, I won't be so thick again. I will be prepared.'" Her own voice echoed in her head. With sudden realization Serina new what was bothering her so much.  
  
"Of course," she cried, slamming her head into her fist, "I haven't been working hard enough in my training! I should've realized it before, all this worrying about not seeing much improvement. Training a few times a week isn't good enough. Having a hectic schedule isn't a good excuse!"  
  
With that notion, Serina threw off her covers and grabbed an elastic band. She put her hair up in a hasty ponytail and ran out the door with her panda jammie bottoms still on and made her way towards Trunks' dorm.  
  
**  
  
Serina knocked heavily on Trunks' door but received no answer. Deciding that he wouldn't wake up for anything, she walked through the doorway and waltzed into his bedroom. Trunks was asleep with his mouth wide open. Small snores escaped his mouth and his limbs were spread out all over his bed. His purple hair was scruffy, sticking up in all directions. He looked . . . rather adorable.  
  
If only she had a camera.  
  
She let out a small giggle as he muttered something incoherent and rolled over. But she had come here for a reason, and nothing was going to stop her from going for that reason. She walked to his bed and began to shake him lightly.  
  
"Trunks, wake up. I need to speak with you." She called out quietly. He only slapped her hand away and rolled over once more. Serina gave a sigh and shook her head.  
  
"I don't wanna have to do this . . ." she went on, and walked over to the window and opened it. The cold breeze made Trunks shift uncomfortably and he desperately tried to seek out his warm blankets. Serina began to giggle madly as she grabbed an icicle that was forming on the windowpane, "Hmmm. . . ok, maybe I do." She muttered with an evil smirk.  
  
Preparing her self and took in a breath of air to stop her from laughing, and she quickly stuck the ice down his pants. Trunks screeched loudly as he shot out into the air. He jumped around wildly as he tried to get the ice out, then running into the wall with a deafening "thud" and landed on the ground. Serina hovered over him with a slightly mocking face and gave a little snort.  
  
"Oh, honey, you ok?" she asked sweetly as he scowled at her.  
  
"Shut up!" he bellowed. None the less Serina held her hand out to him, " What are you doing here, it's only about two!"  
  
"Well, I needed to talk to you." She said in a rather sheepish voice. Trunks rubbed his head, which was throbbing painfully. He let out a small sigh and attempted to look at her.  
  
Well, the two of her.  
  
"What is it, are you feeling ok?" he asked, leading her over to the mini couch to sit down. She crossed her legs and faced him. "I had a dream." She began. Trunks quirked an eyebrow.  
  
"A dream?" he asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice. She woke him up for that? She gave him an angry look and continued.  
  
"It was of a memory. It was a year before you killed the androids. I had gone into town to shop, and there was an attack . . ."  
  
Serina continued to tell Trunks of the dream, and even about what she thought was him sending her a message. Trunks' eyes widened as he listened intently.  
  
"What does this mean?" he asked, a little more to himself then anything else. Serina shook her head a little and began to speak again.  
  
"However, that's not the most important thing right now. I came to ask a question."  
  
"Well, go for it." He told her. She was acting quite strange.  
  
"Tell me the truth. Have you seen any improvement in my fighting skills over the last couple weeks?" she asked slowly, having the feeling that she already knew the answer.  
  
". . .The truth?" he asked nervously. Why did he have the feeling that this wasn't going to end well?  
  
"Yes, I think that's what I asked for." She replied.  
  
"Nnn . . ." he looked dead into her face so she could see that he was indeed speaking the truth, "The truth is . . . you haven't made much improvement, only about a 15% increase over the last month and a half, and I know you could do better. It's not that you're not strong already!" He rushed the last part, covering his head. Serina could get quite violent when she was upset over something. After a few moments without being attacked Trunks looked back at her. She sat very still, looking quite disturbed.  
  
"You didn't tell me this?" she asked softly, he gaze drifting to the floor. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.  
  
"I didn't want to worry you. I know how you get sometimes."  
  
"What!?! Trunks, you have to tell me these things, you idiot! This isn't just some stupid boy problem in freakin' junior high! It's the fate of the freakin' world! THE WORLD, DAMN IT!!!" she screeched, and hit him over the head a couple times.  
  
"Serina! I'm sorry! I just didn't want you to be upset. Stop hitting me, PLEASE!" he called out despritly. She ceased after another hit or two and sat back down.  
  
"Sorry, I just feel a little confused right now," she told him awkwardly, "but I have another question."  
  
"Will I get hit again?" he asked unsurely. She gave him an annoyed look.  
  
"No." she said simply, "Trunks, have we been training enough?" Trunks looked at her in a surprised manner, but then asked himself the same question. Were they?  
  
"No." his deep voice said with seriousness, "At the rate were going, we won't make much progress. Two to three training sessions a week won't cut it."  
  
The pair sat in silence for a moment, lost in deep thought. School was going to get a little harder to keep up with. And not to mention the ballet thing was soon as well. But that wasn't important, not like this . . .  
  
"We're just going to have to train more," Serina said at last, turning to face Trunks, "Everyday."  
  
"You're asking a lot," he sighed, running a clumsy hand through his hair, "When would we have the time?"  
  
"That can't be our concern." She cried out in frustration, "We have to come up with excuses, take time from lunch, anything to get us training more."  
  
"You sure you can deal with it? It's gonna be a pain to handle." He commented softly. She looked at him quickly.  
  
"If you had seen the way that girl looked. . . you would be jumping to train too." She exclaimed in a haunted voice.  
  
Trunks looked down in shame as she scooted closer to him. Serina didn't want to make him feel bad. She lifted his chin until his eyes were level with hers. She gave him a soft smile and placed her head on his chest.  
  
"Through out all the time we've known each other, trust me now. We will get through this." She said in a comforting tone, and he draped a drowsy arm across her shoulder.  
  
"If you think so." He said softly  
  
"Then we start tomorrow night." She said happily.  
  
"Of course. But it's kinda late, and a wee bit nippy. You really should stay here, in my bed . . .OW!" He screamed out as she bit him hard.  
  
"Fat chance, Trunks," she exclaimed sarcastically, "Jake has more of a chance with me then you do."  
  
"Oh whatever." He said, though kind of disappointedly, "See you tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah," she said as she got up to leave.  
  
Just as she reached the door, Trunks called out, "You wouldn't really choose Jake over me . . . would you?" Serina pondered on that notion. She gave a bright smile.  
  
"I donno. . . depends who's better at making out." She said in a rush and hurried out the door before he could say anything more.  
  
**************************************************************************** **************  
  
The next night, Serina met Trunks in his dorm and they took off out through the window. She had a determined look on her face as they quickly rushed over the waves of the water. She couldn't let everyone around her down. With the thoughts of that little girl still fresh in her mind, they landed on the soil softly.  
  
"We don't have too much time to do the training in the day," Trunks said, "All of our major sessions have to be during the night. It will be stressful on your body."  
  
"I can take the stress," she cut in, "Do you give good back massages?"  
  
"Sure?" he replied doubtfully, "Why?"  
  
"You'll be doing a lot of those when we get through with these "sessions.""  
  
Trunks smiled and gave a short laugh.  
  
"Alright then. Lets get this thing going."  
  
The pair started off with some simple stretches to warm up and moved over to some open area. They both sank into battle stances and smirked at each other.  
  
Suddenly, Trunks bolted forward and slammed a fist into Serina's face. She in return punched Trunks in the stomach and threw her arm along his back. He fell to the ground and kicked her legs from under her. She landed with a loud "thwap" but jumped up anyways. Trunks also flipped himself up and they got into the fighting mode once more.  
  
After a while of sparring, Serina started to back Trunks into a corner of the woods. Trunks was running out of space and options. Her speed had no problems, she could compete with Trunks in that department any day. It was her strength that needed work. (Though it seemed he was having trouble with that, too. ;) ) She was doing a great job, and it didn't seem like she was going to give up soon. ' Seems like the dream scared her to become stronger,' he thought, ' She's freakin' kicking my ass. . . but it gives me an excuse to power up.' Trunks smirk deviously.  
  
"How about we kick it up a notch?" he exclaimed over the noise of their fighting and he powered up to Super Saiyan.  
  
"Wh-what? Why'd you do that?" screamed Serina as she tried to dodge a punch as quickly as she could.  
  
"I thought you'd like a challenge." He yelled out as he kicked her in the side and sent her flailing towards a patch of forest. He then dashed behind her and hit her back. She landed on the ground face first.  
  
"Seems like the challenge was too much for you." He exclaimed indifferently, but in a mocking tone all the same.  
  
"Ahh, sshut va helll hup." she said with a mouthful of dirt. She spat it out and leapt up to attack him. He jumped back in surprise buy quickly returned the assault  
  
The two were at it again. Trunks had the upper hand the whole time, however it wasn't hard to believe. He was a legendary Super Saiyan after all. Serina fought a good fight, but it was inevitable.  
  
Her ass was being kicked.  
  
Before she knew it, Serina flung helplessly to the ground as Trunks did the final blow. It was over. Trunks landed swiftly next to her and squatted down. Serina looked up at the still Super Saiyan Trunks. Something was different about him. Something. . . about his power.  
  
"You've been training separately. . .haven't you?" she asked as soon as she found her voice.  
  
"What?" he asked after a moment.  
  
"I mean," she continued with a slight crack in her voice, "I couldn't have expected to be up there with you. I'm just not strong enough to be your sparring partner."  
  
"What are you babbling about?" he asked in confusion. She shook her head to fight the feeling of uselessness.  
  
"Trunks, tell me the truth. You've been training alone because I can't keep up with you."  
  
Trunks remained silent for a moment.  
  
"Yes, I've been training alone." He said quietly.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me? For crying out loud Trunks, I have a right to know if I'm wasting my time or not."  
  
He gave a little laugh as her anger grew. What the hell was he laughing about? Was he laughing at her? She had half a mind to yell at him before he cut her off.  
  
"Serina, you don't understand, I never said anything about you not keeping up with me," he began, still giggling, "don't you see? Yes, your strength has not been improving, and that's something to be worried about, but you pick up things on a whim. It doesn't take you long to learn moves and incorporate them in to your own style. If I hadn't been training, there wouldn't have been any way you would've improved, you following me?"  
  
"Like a faithful hound." She said sarcastically.  
  
"Anyways, if I hadn't been increasing my own strength, where would that leave you? You would have no room to improve. You gain strength by learning from your opponent, you see?"  
  
"Uh. . . huh?" she asked dumbly. Trunks sighed.  
  
"Basically, if I kick your butt, then you learn from it, and if you kick mine, I learn from it, right?"  
  
"Yeeeaaah." She replied with somewhat understanding, "God, I wish I could compete with you, Trunks. I feel so weak, like I'm dragging you down."  
  
"Serina," he said seriously, "I would not be out here for nothing. You're helping me so much, you couldn't possible be anything but wonderful."  
  
"You sure?" she questioned softly. He looked at her sternly as she sat there gripping her hands.  
  
"Look, you've learned a lot in these past months. You're about as strong as I am when in my normal stage. I didn't even achieve that status until I became a Super Saiyan. I have this feeling. . . it won't leave me alone. I feel that there's something in you, something that will make you the strongest of us all."  
  
Serina was speechless. No, Trunks was wrong. There was no way she could ever be as strong as he was.  
  
Never. . .  
  
**************************************************************************** *******************************  
  
Ok, I finally finished this chapter. Whoooo! Now please be good boys and girls and review? 


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